Mobile app usage skyrocketed last year as people were in lockdown and many are left wondering if that will change when people are vaccinated and slowly return to a life outside of the home. Research has shown that people have already adopted these mobile habits and games, in particular, will be here to stay. A new report estimates that 75% of mobile games activity growth is expected to stay. Meanwhile, finance apps are growing this year after a slowdown during the pandemic. Get all the details in this week’s Mobile Monday!
More Than Half of Mobile Gamers Have Increased their Playing Time
According to a report from market intelligence firm IDC and digital advertising platform LoopMe, 63% of respondents to their survey on mobile gameplay said they have increased their playing time, especially those in countries hit hard by the pandemic. An estimated 75% of the net rise in mobile gaming activity will persist indefinitely even as countries return to “normal life.” The survey was fielded to almost 4,000 smartphone users in the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore. In these six countries, more than two in three smartphone owners reported playing mobile games in recent months. Three out of four mobile gamers said they played for entertainment or to pass the time. Approximately 4% said they used games to engage in safe social interactions during lockdowns.
The survey revealed that the worldwide base of gamers that played on a smartphone or slate tablet monthly jumped 12% in 2020 compared to 2019, to roughly 2.25 billion last year. Additionally, 6% of players didn’t play prior to the pandemic either. That means the increased time spent playing mobile games primarily comes from consumers who already had picked up gaming before COVID-19. The new games skewed male and were usually a few years younger than the broader base of pre-pandemic mobile gamers. The study also found that a majority of mobile gamers make critical buying decisions for their households, making them a valuable audience for brand advertisers.
Finance Apps Are Picking Up After Economic Uncertainty in 2020
AppsFlyer released their The State of Finance App Marketing report which indicated that financial and banking apps are on the rise again this year. Demand for Finance apps worldwide has surged in the last couple of years with a 132% leap in downloads between Q1 2019 to Q1 2021. The uncertainty during the pandemic caused this category to slow down in Q2 2020 and installs declined in comparison to the previous quarter. Activity in finance apps started to pick up later in the year and installs increased by 10% and then further increased by 20% in Q1 2021.
Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, digital banking app installs increased by almost 45% and have been rising steadily. Financial services and traditional banking app downloads increased by only 15% during the same period. Since then, traditional banking apps have gotten some steam and have had a 22% rise in installs Q1 2021. Developing markets account for most of the downloads in finance apps. The top three markets, India, Brazil, and Indonesia, make up half of the global total of downloads. The average number of downloads in developing markets was 70% higher than the average in developed markets.
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