Over the past few months, there have been numerous reports detailing the effects of COVID-19 on the mobile industry. However, data shared in the past weeks have given us the full picture of the unprecedented growth during Q2 2020. A recent report states that installs in both the App Store and Google Play have surged to record-breaking numbers. Read highlights from the report in this week’s Mobile Monday!
App Downloads Reach Over 37 Billion in Q2
Sensor Tower released their quarterly report named Data Digest that explores how changes in consumer behavior have caused downloads to skyrocket. According to their data, worldwide app downloads reached an all-time high of 37.8 billion in Q2, an almost 32% increase of year-over-year. App Store installs reached 9 billion after growing 23%, while Google Play saw an approximate 35% percent growth, surging to 28.7 billion. India remains at the top of the list when it comes to countries with the most app downloads. The country hit a record number of downloads at 6.9 billion, growing 30% quarter-over-quarter. Egypt entered the top 10 for the first time in Q2 after growing 67% in Google Play downloads.
Orders to stay at home around the world made a drastic impact on the app ecosystem. During Q2, Business, Health & Fitness, and Education apps drove install growth while the Travel, Navigation, and Sports categories struggled with extended periods of low install numbers. Zoom was the top app by downloads in the U.S., Europe, and worldwide. The web conferencing app joined TikTok and Pokémon GO to become one of the only titles to reach 300 million installs in a quarter.
Mobile Games Hit 2.69 Billion Downloads in Q2
While some categories either surged or fell, mobile games have maintained its dominance while managing to continue its growth. Q2 2020 had more than 2.5 billion installs in a quarter for only the second time. Google Play’s mobile games grew a staggering 50% year-over-year in terms of downloads. Among the top 20 publishers of the quarter, many of them were game publishers including Voodoo, Rollic Games, Crazy Labs, Supersonic Studios, and Say Games. Save The Girls was the top mobile game in the quarter and was Lion Studio’s first game to reach 100 million downloads in a quarter and pushed the publisher to surpass 250 million installs for the third consecutive quarter.
In the United States, game downloads and revenue both saw a boost during Q2. Slots games did particularly well, as did games with a strong social component including Sandbox games like Roblox and Battle Royale games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile. Hypercasual, Puzzle, and Arcade games maintained high download numbers in March and April but then later started to fall in June. Simulation and Lifestyle games managed to maintain most of their increases from earlier in the year.
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