Daily downloads from the iOS App Store broke the 8m mark for the first time in November 2014, according to data from app marketing firm Fiksu.
On average, 8.1m apps were downloaded each day, a 42 per cent increase on November 2013, driven by new iPhone ownership and a rise in usage over the Thanksgiving break in the US.
The company’s App Store Competitive Index, which tracks the average number of daily downloads for the top 200 free iPhone apps in the US, hit 8.1 million for the month of November, up from 7.8 million in October, and up 42 percent year-over-year.
Since users were so rapidly downloading new apps throughout the month, the iOS Cost Per Loyal User Index dropped 27 percent to $1.58 for the month, a 12 percent decrease year-over-year. Not only were users organically downloading new apps to fill their new devices, which means developers spent less money to acquire them, but users are (overall) spending more time in the apps they download.
Android costs fell for November, with the Android Cost Per Launch index decreasing to $0.08 for the month, down 41 percent year-over-year. In addition, the Cost Per Install on Android fell from $1.15 in October 2014 to $1.13 in November, a decrease of two percent.
Overall, the November cost per install is a 17 percent decrease over this time last year. Again, Fiksu expects these costs to continue to fall, and encourages marketers to take advantage of these cheaper opportunities heading into 2015.
Thanks to the Christmas season, Fiksu expects app competition to intensify through the end of January, as developers fight to put their apps in front of users who received new devices over the holidays.
“Breaking the eight million app download threshold marks a staggering new milestone for mobile marketers and sets the tone for a new year filled with both promise and challenges,” said Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu, in a statement. “As we’ve seen in past years, the effect will surely last into January with volumes and acquisition costs continuing to rise. While January isn’t a bargain time for marketers, it is an important time to plan for acquiring new users and adopting strategies for retaining them.”