In brief
Mobile app usage grew by 58% in 2015, while mobile gaming usage fell by 1%. Personalization apps grew by 332%, news and magazine apps by 135%, productivity apps by 125%, and lifestyle and shopping apps by 81%.
In the mobile market, “Mobile First”、「“Mobile Only” slogans are being proclaimed loud and clear, and online services are actively using apps as gateways to mobile users. So how did the app market perform over the past year?
The mobile gaming market is approaching saturation, with app usage declining
Y is currently used by more than 200,000 developers worldwide and deployed in 720,000 apps. Statistics show that mobile app usage grew by 58%, still an impressive rate compared with other mature industries. Previously popular mobile gaming apps have seen growth stall, with usage declining for two consecutive years and falling by 1% last year, indicating that the mobile gaming market is reaching saturation.
By comparison, 2015 saw four major app categories deliver standout performances, all with growth rates exceeding 100%!
Personalization Apps
Usage of personalization apps grew threefold (332%)! This category includes Android lock-screen apps and Emoji keyboards. Among them, messaging apps frequently use Emoji apps, which were a key driver of the sharp rise in personalization app usage.
News and Magazine Apps
The rise of large-screen phones accelerated users’ shift from traditional television and computers to mobile devices for reading and viewing content, driving app usage in this category up by 135% year on year and putting it in second place.
Productivity Apps
Productivity apps grew by 125%, as increasing numbers of young people and students used mobile devices to send and receive emails and use other utility apps.
Lifestyle and Shopping Apps
Lifestyle and shopping apps, which recorded strong growth of 174% in 2014, saw their growth rate fall to 81% last year. Nevertheless, they continued to reflect the arrival of the mobile shopping era and ranked fourth. At the time, more than 33% of online shopping in the United States came from phones, while the global average for mobile shopping reached 40%.
A Review of the Global App Market in 2015: Emoji Booms, Mobile Gaming Cools, and Four App Categories Lead the Way