apps taking over 2020

The Apps Taking Over 2020

16 January 2020
Carrier Billing

There’s an App For That – The Evolution of The App

Over the last decade, mobile has shaped changes in consumer behaviour.

The world as we knew it transformed in 2008, when 500 apps appeared on Apple’s App Store. Since 2010, apps have continued to develop further. Airbnb enabled the luxury of being able to rent another person’s home, while Deliveroo facilitated food delivery from restaurants. In 2018, there were 20 million registered iOS developers catering for the 500 million weekly visitors to the App Store. By 2021, mobile app market revenue is expected to reach $693 billion.

Apps make our lives easier. App Annie’s Top 10 Downloaded Apps of the Decade confirms this, with communication and social media apps coming out top, including; Facebook, WhatsApp Messenger, Instagram, Skype, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter. In terms of consumer spend, video streaming and music apps; Netflix, Pandora Music and Tencent Video appeared in the top five.

The Year of The App

2019 was an all-time high for app downloads and consumer spend. According to App Annie’s year-end report on app trends, worldwide mobile consumers downloaded a record 120 billion apps from Apple’s App Store and Google Play in 2019, representing a 5% increase from 2018 – a considerable growth, considering that this does not include app updates or re-installations.

App Annie’s round up of 2019’s most downloaded apps includes; Facebook Messenger, Facebook and WhatsApp Messenger, noting the steady rise of short-video apps like TikTok which made the number four spot. 2019’s Top 3 apps and games by consumer spend include Tinder, Netflix and Tencent Video.

2020 is set to be even bigger. Consumer spend is expected to reach over $30 billion on apps and nearly $80 billion on games. This comes as no surprise, with over 5 billion worldwide mobile users and global internet penetration standing at 58%.

Case Study – The rise of TikTok

One app singing and dancing its way into 2020 is TikTok, a video sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance. Since launching in early 2018, TikTok has been covered by many major news publications, racked up millions of global downloads and is one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world.

Now available in over 141 countries, TikTok has 800 million monthly users worldwide. The platform allows users to easily edit their own short films (up to 60 seconds) and uses AI to personalise their video feed.

TikTok stats:

  • 50% of TikTok’s global audience is under 34, with 26% between 18 and 24
  • One in eight adults have joined TikTok
  • 56% of users are male
  • The average user spends 52 minutes per day on TikTok
  • 90% of users visit the app more than once per day
  • TikTok’s average session is nearly 5 minutes, which is longer than Snapchat or Instagram’s
  • A report by consultancy R3 said TikTok has helped ByteDance take 23% of all China’s digital media spend in the first half of the year, equating to $7 billion
  • TikTok offers brands multiple ad formats, including hashtag challenges, in-feed ads and page takeover

It’s easy to see why TikTok has been present at carrier billing conferences such as The Global Carrier Billing Summit. The company is looking at how to grow its in-app purchasing revenues and users can already buy virtual items and personalisation products.

App Trends for 2020

Things are looking good for TikTok. But it’s not just TikTok that’s set to take 2020 by storm.

Most popular apps and trends predicted for this year include:

  • Productivity, travel and appointment booker apps – Book Like A Boss, Waze, Noisli
  • mHealth (mobile health) – There are currently over 318,000 health apps on the market, with hundreds more being added each day. It’s clear that people love the convenience of managing their health on the go, including via wearable apps e.g. Apple Watch, Fitbit
  • Streaming – App Annie is expecting consumers to spend 674 billion hours in entertainment and video player and editor categories worldwide on Android phones e.g. YouTube, Netflix and the new Disney+
  • 5G Gaming – Demand exists for mobile online multiplayer core games that rely on better wireless connections. In October 2019, Call of Duty: Mobile was the top ranked game by global downloads across iOS and Google Play during its first month of release
  • Gaming – Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass will drive innovative games for consumers and new revenue streams for publishers
  • On Demand Apps – On-demand apps offer their users ease and flexibility. e.g. Uber and Airbnb

Mobile apps are only becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives. With more apps being downloaded than ever and consumer spend on the rise, now is a great time to consider adding carrier billing as a simple, one-step method of payment.

Unlock the potential of new markets and contact SLA Digital today.


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