Nearly Two-Thirds Of App Categories See Revenue Boost Worldwide

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of app verticals saw an increase in revenue worldwide during the first week of April from mid-March, according to an AppsFlyer’s study, “The Coronavirus Impact on App Installs and Marketing Budgets.” Forty percent of verticals saw increased revenue of over 20 percent.

AppsFlyer found that across the world streaming apps doubled revenues since the last week of February but dipped by 35 percent during the week of March 31-April 6. Across categories, since March 23, health and fitness revenues jumped 35 percent, shopping revenues grew 15 percent while organic installs flattened and food delivery revenues increased 25 percent. Gaming app revenues are all seeing lifts in revenue.

In the US, installs and app usage have been stable, with revenue growing 42 percent since March 23. Streaming apps saw a 52 percent lift in non-organic installs as they focused on user acquisition between March 3-23. These same apps maintained organic growth of eight percent from March 17-April 6, resulting in a revenue increase of 23 percent during the same time frame.

With US schools closed until through summer and students learning from home, education apps are experiencing an increase in usage and revenue week-over-week, growing 86 percent since March 23 and no less than 154 percent since March 2.

Organic installs for US shopping apps grew 10 percent from March 31-April 6 with existing users generating a 28 percent revenue increase.

Player spend across all gaming categories is also up as of April 6: midcore gaming saw a 22 percent increase, casual gaming saw a 13 percent increase, social casino saw a 12 percent increase and hardcore gaming saw a nine percent increase. 

New York saw the most significant app install growth from the coronavirus lockdown. Between March 10-23, organic and non-organic installs jumped 30 percent and 50 percent, respectively. But since April 6, organic decreased by three percent and non-organic decreased by 10 percent.

App installs and usage in China peaked during the onset of the outbreak from January-February and thereafter dropped and flattened. Since April 6, however, installs grew nearly 50 percent due to the increase in gaming and lifestyle apps—midcore games grew 45 percent and lifestyle organic installs climbed 70 percent.

AppsFlyer’s findings are based on the weekly percentage of app installs and sessions per country, per vertical. AppsFlyer updated the report on April 9 and will update it next on April 23.