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Executive Summary
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Executive Summary
This past year demonstrated the continued maturity and growth of the
mobile app market. While worldwide downloads grew by 15% from
2015 to 2016, time spent in apps grew by 25%, driving app store
revenue paid out to publishers from Google Play and the iOS App Store
up by 40%.
2016 marked a year of major market shifts in the app ecosystem.
Not only did China become the largest country in terms of iOS App
Store revenue in 2016, but its revenue growth rate accelerated off of a
very strong 2015 performance. In fact, the global revenue growth rates
for both the iOS App Store and Google Play were greater in 2016 than
2015. While mature markets experienced strong growth in 2016,
emerging markets, including India, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil, saw
even more impressive gains.
There were a number of corporate developments that signaled growth
and maturity in 2016. Japans messaging giant LINE and
communications API company Twilio went public. In ride-sharing, Uber
sold its China operations to Didi Chuxing to focus on other markets. IT
giant Microsoft snapped up LinkedIn while telecommunications
company Verizon announced it was acquiring Yahoo.
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The games space also saw a number of large acquisitions with notables
including Tencents acquisition of Supercell, Activision Blizzards
purchase of King, Vivendis purchase of Gameloft and Playtikas
acquisition by a Chinese consortium led by Giant.
Gaming continued to drive the majority of app store revenue and one of
the biggest headlines of 2016 was the phenomenal success of
Pokmon GO. Despite launching in July, it remained in the top five apps
for worldwide revenue in the last week of the year. And the year ended
with the release of the much anticipated Super Mario Run, which
became the #1 app in 148 countries.
Shopping was another segment with impressive gains in 2016. Time
spent in these apps grew by 30% year over year in the United States for
the busy buying month of November. France, Germany and the United
Kingdom experienced some of the highest growth rates in the number
of sessions in shopping apps this past year.
Building on momentum from 2015, video streaming delivered strong
growth in revenue this past year as premium content including sports
and live streaming apps grew both in users and engagement.
App Annie 2017
Number of Apps
China
India
South
Korea
Brazil
United
States
Japan
United
Kingdom
*iPhone, 2016
Identify high-performing
creatives and keywords to
optimize organic and paid
user acquisition efforts.
Over 700,000
registered members
rely on App Annie to
better understand
the app market,
their businesses and
the opportunities
around them.
Like total time, worldwide download growth in 2016 followed roughly the
same trajectory as in the previous year. This resulted in annual
downloads reaching over 90 billion, an increase of more than 13 billion
across the iOS App Store and Google Play. As in 2015, Google Play
Downloads (Billions)
the next section). iOS downloads increased more in 2016 than they did in
Google Play
iOS App Store
Google Play
iOS App Store
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Downloads Pave the Way for Revenue
Volume
Downloads
Time
App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Downloads Pave the Way for Revenue
India
Brazil
United States
Indonesia
Mexico
Downloads (Billions)
India
Brazil
United States
Indonesia
Russia
**Google Play
growth in most countries in 2016. This was especially true for emerging
these was India, which grew massively in 2016 to surpass the US as the
markets, which accounted for four of the top five countries by total time
spent in 2016. In particular, India and Brazil stood out for their
over the past two years is even more impressive when considering its
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Downloads Pave the Way for Revenue
United States
Germany
Japan
Downloads*
Time Spent**
Revenue*
*Google Play
**Android phone
2016 made clear that as a market matures, its download growth rate
will eventually level off. This happened in the US, Germany and Japan. It
all three of these markets. This is good news for both established and
downloads. In other words, the rate of new installs has leveled off at
download growth early on lays the foundation for later revenue and
usage gains.
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | China Surges to the #1 Revenue Spot on iOS
China
United States
Japan
Q4 2015
Q4 2016
Social Networking
Entertainment
Books
Like in most other markets, the vast majority of App Store revenue in
App Store downloads. We also noted that China's revenue growth was
accelerating, putting it within striking distance of Japan and the US. This
came to fruition in 2016 as China claimed the top spot for iOS App Store
publisher NetEase over $800 million in China alone since its release in
biggest quarter for any country in App Store history. This spectacular
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Video Streaming App Revenue Continues to Climb
United States
China
United Kingdom
In China, Youku barely edged out iQIYI for the top spot by active users (though iQIYI
held the #1 spot in App Store revenue). Although Youku and iQIYI are roughly Chinas
counterparts to YouTube and Netflix, the Chinese video streaming landscape wont
necessarily imitate the West in the long run. Live streaming apps like Inke, which
continued to gain momentum in 2016, have the potential to shape a unique future of
for mobile video streaming in China and the rest of Asia. You can learn more about this
took a few of the top spots in the US and UK. To see why, read
App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Video Streaming App Revenue Continues to Climb
YouTube
Netflix
ESPN
CNN
YouTube
BBC News
BBC Sport
BBC iPlayer
Netflix
Youku
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iQIYI
Tencent Video
LeTV
bilibili
2015 2016
Percentage Growth in
Average Sessions
The apps in these two categories followed fairly distinct usage patterns in 2016. Across
the six countries we analyzed, monthly sessions per user tended to be higher for the
group of top digital-first retail apps than the group of top bricks-and-clicks. Additionally,
this metric was also growing faster among the digital-first apps. This lagging
engagement of bricks-and-clicks apps could spell trouble for their publishers in the years
ahead. These traditional retailers must continue to invest in their app strategies to stay
competitive in an increasingly mobile world.
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Share of Ad Impressions
November 2014
November 2015
November 2016
*Android phone
Week of
October 23
Week of
October 30
Week of
November 6
Week of
November 13
Week of
November 20
(Black Friday)
Week of
November 27
(Cyber Monday)
**iPhone
Yet again, the holiday shopping season from Black Friday to Cyber
Monday shattered previous revenue records. Chief among these
competition with both pre-Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. This is
apps was in line with this new record: In 2016, total US time spent in
Shopping apps during November increased more than 30% year over
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Rank
China
India
South Korea
United Kingdom
United States
Name Change
*iPhone
*iPhone
App store optimization was also vital for retail apps holiday shopping
downloads come from search). Many apps added terms such as Black
Friday into their names in order to maximize search traffic. Retale took
increasing. The question remains how much more growth we will see in
Friday 2016: Ads, Shopping Deals & Coupons, removing Retale entirely.
This seemed to pay off, as the app jumped to the #3 rank for the search
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Social Apps Open Doors for Marketers
attempts.
Instagram
#2 Advertiser
September
2016
October
2016
November
2016
December
2016
*iPhone
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App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Retail Banking: Innovate or Get Left Behind
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Retail Banking
Fintech
*MAU across Android phone and iPhone combined
App Annie 2016 Retrospective | Retail Banking: Innovate or Get Left Behind
United Kingdom
France
Germany
retail banking is taking off in Europe. The total number of sessions for
and an increase in sessions per user. Germany, a market that has been
the top retail banking apps continued to climb in France, the UK and
to fend off the threat from fintech innovators, who were recently given
UK.
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Pokmon GO
July 5, 2016
More than
2.3x faster
More than
3.5x faster
More than
4.5x faster
250+ days
400+ days
Clash of Clans
June 14, 2012
500+ days
*Android phone
Pokmon GOs success has done more to familiarize consumers with the
software (or hardware, for that matter). Importantly for the app space,
its initial success, it was able to boost usage by re-engaging users with its
this familiarization did not take place in living rooms with special AR
special Halloween in-game event. On the event's second day, total time
devices. Instead, it happened in the real world with mobile phones. If this
spent was more than twice as high as it was on the day prior to starting.
is any indication, the future of AR is in mobile apps. You can read more
Such huge success for an in-game event proves that the lives of mobile
about the future of AR in our 2017 predictions for the app economy.
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Japan
China
United States
South Korea
United Kingdom
*iPhone
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App
Company
Facebook
Messenger
YouTube
Google Maps
WhatsApp
Messenger
Snapchat
Snap
10
Gmail
Rank
App
Company
WhatsApp
Messenger
Facebook
Messenger
Company
Pokmon GO
Niantic
Candy Crush
Saga
Activision
Blizzard
Clash of Clans
Supercell
Candy Crush
Soda Saga
Activision
Blizzard
Clash Royale
Supercell
Clean Master
Cheetah Mobile
Words With
Friends
Zynga
Skype
Microsoft
Color Switch
MX Player
J2 Interactive
Dropbox
Dropbox
10
LINE
LINE
Rank
10
App
Company
Pokmon GO
Niantic
Candy Crush
Saga
Activision Blizzard
Subway Surfers
Kiloo
Clash of Clans
Supercell
Candy Crush
Soda Saga
Activision Blizzard
Clash Royale
Supercell
Fortafy Games
Piano Tiles 2
Cheetah Mobile
Subway Surfers
Kiloo
8 Ball Pool
Miniclip
Piano Tiles 2
Cheetah Mobile
Candy Crush
Jelly Saga
Activision Blizzard
1010!
GramGames
My Talking
Tom
Outfit7
10
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Usage tables do not aggregate different versions of apps. For instance, Fruit Ninja and Fruit Ninja Free would be ranked separately. Worldwide excludes China.
Apps are ranked by average monthly active users across 2016. Pre-installed apps (such as YouTube on Android phone and Safari on iPhone) are excluded.
Worldwide by Downloads
Top Apps of 2016: Worldwide
Combined iOS and Google Play
Downloads
Rank
App
Company
WhatsApp
Messenger
Facebook
Messenger
Snapchat
Snap
UC Browser
UCWeb
imo
imo.im
Clean Master
Cheetah Mobile
SHAREit
SHAREit
App
Company
Pokmon GO
Niantic
Piano Tiles 2
Cheetah Mobile
Subway Surfers
Kiloo
slither.io
Lowtech Studios
Clash Royale
Supercell
My Talking
Tom
Outfit7
Color Switch
Fortafy Games
Candy Crush
Saga
Activision Blizzard
Clash of Clans
Supercell
Traffic Rider
Soner Kara
Company
Headquarters
United States
Company
Headquarters
Electronic Arts
United States
United States
Doodle Mobile
China
Apple
United States
Outfit7
Cyprus
Cheetah
Mobile
China
Activision
Blizzard
United States
Tencent
China
Cheetah Mobile
China
Microsoft
United States
6
Miniclip
Switzerland
Alibaba Group
China
7
Vivendi
France
Supercell
Finland
Niantic
United States
Rovio
Finland
9
10
YouTube
10
Baidu
Rank
China
Sungy Mobile
China
Snap
United States
10
10
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Top apps and games rankings exclude pre-installed apps as well as apps published by platform owners and downloaded to devices running their OS (such as
Google Translate on Android phone and GarageBand on iPhone). To see a more detailed explanation, please see report methodology.
Worldwide by Revenue
Top Apps of 2016: Worldwide
Combined iOS and Google Play
Revenue
Rank
App
Company
Spotify
Spotify
LINE
Netflix
App
Company
Monster Strike
Mixi
LINE
Clash of Clans
Supercell
Netflix
Pokmon GO
Niantic
Rank
Company
Headquarters
LINE
Japan
InterActiveCorp
(IAC)
United States
Spotify
Sweden
Netflix
United States
Tinder
InterActive Corp
(IAC)
MZ
HBO NOW
HBO
Clash Royale
Supercell
Tencent
China
Pandora Radio
Pandora
Mobile Strike
MZ
Time Warner
United States
iQIYI
Baidu
GungHo
Online
Pandora
United States
LINE Manga
LINE
Baidu
China
Fantasy Westward
Journey
NetEase
9
Smule
United States
Activision
Blizzard
10
Sing! Karaoke
Hulu
Smule
Hulu
10
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Fate/Grand Order
10
Hulu
Company
Headquarters
Tencent
China
Supercell
Finland
NetEase
China
MZ
United States
Activision
Blizzard
United States
Mixi
Japan
BANDAI
NAMCO
Japan
Niantic
United States
LINE
Japan
Netmarble
South Korea
United States
10
Sony
Top apps and games rankings exclude pre-installed apps as well as apps published by platform owners and downloaded to devices running their OS (such as
Google Translate on Android phone and GarageBand on iPhone). To see a more detailed explanation, please see report methodology.
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Rank Change
vs. 2015
Rank
Country
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Country
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Country
Rank Change
vs. 2015
China
China
India
Japan
United States
United States
United States
United States
Japan
Japan
Brazil
South Korea
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Indonesia
Germany
Russia
Australia
Russia
Taiwan
France
Canada
Mexico
United Kingdom
Germany
Taiwan
Turkey
France
Canada
South Korea
South Korea
Australia
Brazil
Germany
Thailand
Hong Kong
Australia
10
France
10
Vietnam
10
Canada
10
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Country
Category
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Category
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Category
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Category
Rank Change
vs. 2015
Games
Games
Games
Games
Social Networking
Tools
Communication
Entertainment
Entertainment
Communication
Social
Social Networking
Music
Photography
Entertainment
Utilities
Education
Entertainment
Productivity
Lifestyle
Social
Lifestyle
Lifestyle
Productivity
Productivity
Education
Shopping
N/A*
Books
Tools
Music
Personalization
Education
10
10
Shopping
10
Sports
10
*Category marked as N/A since it was only available for a portion of 2015.
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