App Downloads in India Grew 215 Percent in 2017: App Annie

App insights company App Annie has claimed that an average user in India holds nearly 80 apps and accesses over 40 of them. The company, in its 2017 Retrospective Report, also highlights that there has been a 60 percent growth in the total number of app downloads globally from 2015, with a total of more than 175 billion downloads in 2017. Alongside India, mobile users in China and Japan are reported to have over 100 apps on an average.

The consumer spends on apps exceeded to $86 billion in 2017, marking over 105 percent of growth from 2015, while each user on an average spends about 43 days per year in apps. App downloads, particularly in India, have surged 215 percent in 2017 than 2015. This has made the country overtake the US and become the top second country by downloads. App Annie also highlights that there is a significant volume of absolute downloads in mature markets, including the US.

In India, the top 10 most downloaded apps were WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Truecaller, SHAREit, MX Player, UC Browser, Amazon, Paytm, and Instagram. The Paytm app is notably the only homegrown app on the most downloaded apps list. App Annie believes that the demonetisation drive by the Indian government and the arrival of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have significantly contributed in the growth of the Paytm app that received over 30 percent usage penetration among Android phone users in the last year. Also, apps such as PhonePe, Jio Wallet, and Google's Tez are considered to further shake up the market.

In addition to wallets, App Annie states that after the debut of Reliance Jio, video streaming in India has received explosive growth - with video consumption increased more than six times since the first half of 2016. The increase in the adoption of video content has pushed the usage of video streaming apps, especially making Hotstar one of the most used video streaming apps in the world.

"Emerging markets such as India and Brazil are in the early stages of app maturity. Vast download numbers are driven by new smartphone owners discovering and experimenting with new apps," App Annie said in the annual report.

When it comes to the leading market for apps, App Annie claims that the Chinese app market has surpassed other countries and become the world's largest app market. Just in the fourth quarter in 2017, Chinese app users are found to have spent over 200 billion hours in apps across Apple App Store, Google Play, and third-party Android stores. Indian users, on the other hand, are reported to have spent almost 50 billion hours in apps during the same time frame. Furthermore, App Annie team says that $1 out of every $4 from various apps stores, in-app ads, and mobile commerce is generated by the Chinese market.

It is important to note that the majority of China's most-used apps are found to be published by Chinese companies, though some of them are entering the global market as well.

App Annie reports that the number of apps available across Google Play and Apple App Store expanded to more than six million. "In response, app marketing, particularly app store optimisation and paid user acquisition, has become increasingly critical for those looking to stand out," the company added.

Disclosure: Paytm's parent company One97 is an investor in Gadgets 360.