App downloads to grow to 20.1 billion by 2020: Report

There are just too many apps, and one can sense a general air of App-fatigue all around. However, according to app analytics firm App Annie Inc, the app trend is not dying anytime soon.

According to the data for the first quarter of 2016, 93 percent of Indian users’ time is spent in apps versus mobile browsers, in line with global trends in the app and mobile browser usage.

The number of app downloads in India, across Android and iOS, is projected at 7.7 billion in 2016, making India the fourth largest country for apps after the US, China, and Brazil. The number of downloads are expected to grow to 20.1 billion by 2020. There was a 2.1 times increase in the number of downloads from the first quarter of 2014 to 2016.

In the case of the shopping apps, India’s foremost e-commerce firm, Flipkart excels the list of retail apps by monthly active usage, followed by Amazon and Paytm - a major player now in e-commerce - which started as a mobile app.

However, in terms of the number of downloads, Amazon topped the list, followed by Flipkart and Snapdeal.

App Annie data showed that 28 percent of all Indian smartphone users had a ride-hailing app installed. Ola tops the list of both monthly active users and downloads in this category, followed by Uber.

Another category that has seen aggressive growth is video streaming; the total time spent in the top 5 video streaming apps having increased 7.4 times from Q1 2014 to Q1 2016. Though YouTube reigns in terms of monthly active users in this category, in terms of download, Hotstar tops the list, followed by Wynk, Yupp TV, YouTube, and #fame.

Though India ranks fourth in terms of download, it ranks 34 in terms of revenue generated, which highlights the potential for growth.