Android, iOS app downloads hit a record 27.5 billion in Q1 2018

According to the latest report from App Annie, records related to apps that were set during the fourth quarter of 2017, were broken in the first quarter of 2018. For example, from January through March of this year, downloads from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store rose more than 10% year-over-year to hit a record 27.5 billion. Spending on apps rose 22% during the same time period to reach $18.4 billion.

During the first three months of this year, downloads from the Google Play Store (19.2 billion+) swamped those from the Apple App Store (8.2 billion+). That means that Android users installed 135% more apps than iOS users. On a sequential basis, Apple cut into that download gap by 10 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2017.

Despite this lopsided count, the App Store garnered 85% more revenue than the Google Play Store from January through March 2018. After growing revenue 25% in Q1 2018 from Q4 2017, the Google Play Store cut into the App Store's revenue lead by 10 percentage points on a sequential basis. The App Store grew its revenues by 20% over the same time period. As a result, this is the closest that the revenue gap has been since the first quarter of 2016.

Music & Audio and Entertainment apps had the biggest growth in market share for the Google Play Store, both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. On the App Store, Health and Fitness apps had the largest increase in market share from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018. The U.S. shouldered most of the growth in the Google Play Store while the App Store saw big growth from the United States, Russia and Turkey.

The average smartphone user interacts with apps for nearly three hours a day and opens 40 apps during the course of a month. There are plenty to choose from. At the end of March 2018, 6.2 million apps were available from both the App Store and Google Play Store combined.


source: AppAnnie