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Smartphone Users & Reinstall Rate

Posted Aug 7, 2018

It’s no surprise that smartphone users download a variety of apps for different purposes — from gaming and music streaming, to social media and lifestyle tips. What does come as a surprise is that a lot of users actually delete and redownload apps at an alarming rate.

According to eMarketer, almost 30% of app downloads in North America from November 2017 to May 2018 were reinstalls. The same goes for Africa. Although this number may seem high, North America and Africa are actually at the end of the list when it comes to reinstalls. Europe and Asia-Pacific saw a 39% reinstall rate, the Middle East experienced a 40% reinstall rate, and South America saw a 44% reinstall rate!

What apps are prone to reinstall? Figures show that reinstall rates are higher for apps that have a short-term need, like travel or dating apps. This makes a lot of sense. You wouldn’t keep an empty carton of milk in your fridge, would you?

But what is the reason for deleting the app in the first place? The conventional mindset assumed the only reason was to clear up memory. New data suggests three different reasons. Thirty-four percent of U.S. smartphone users reinstall an app because they want to give it another try. Twenty-five percent — you guessed it — want to free up storage space on their device, and another twenty percent claimed the app was buggy and were hoping that the newer version would work better.

This research only stresses the importance of a strong app store optimization strategy. After all, 65% of smartphone owners said they reinstalled an app after searching for it. Including the right keywords in app titles and descriptions is key, whether the app is available on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

About eMarketer
Founded in 1996 in New York, eMarketer is a market research company that provides insights and trends related to digital marketing, media, and commerce. More than 100,000 leading marketers and strategists rely on eMarketer to stay on top of the most important industry-related topics and research.

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Sarin

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