India overtakes US, becomes second in total app downloads
According to a report by third-party data agency App Annie, India has overtaken the USA to claim the second position in terms of the total number of app downloads in 2017, with China topping the list. This was made possible due to the introduction of Reliance Jio in India that offered unlimited data usage to users at subsidized rates, the report said.
Indians spent 50 billion hours on apps in 2017
The report claims that in India, users spent almost 50 billion hours on apps last year. When it came to monthly active users (MAUs), WhatsApp took the top spot followed by Facebook, however in terms of downloads, Facebook topped the list followed by WhatsApp. Paytm clocked more MAUs than Instagram in 2017. As for consumer spending, Netflix and Tinder were the top two winners.
Gaming, entertainment are top app categories on Play Store
The report also mentioned that with the increase in finance apps, cashless societies are emerging in Asian markets. In India, apps like UPI, BHIM, and Paytm are boosting that growth. Further, the top five app categories on Google Play Store in India were gaming, entertainment, photo and video, utilities, and social networking followed by shopping, finance, lifestyle, travel, and education.
Users worldwide spent 43 days on apps in 2017
Worldwide, the total number of app downloads has been clocked in at 175 billion at a 60% growth. Further, consumer spending on apps has exceeded $86 billion, with the top markets for this category being China, the US, India, Brazil, and Russia, respectively. On an average, each user spent about 43 days on apps in 2017, spiking the total time spent by 30%.
