Is It Getting Harder And Harder For People To Try Out New Mobile Apps?

It appears so, or at least as indicated in a new state of the industry report published by Adobe. Most users of today seem to be sticking to familiar mobile apps instead of giving new apps a shot. And interestingly, the rate of app abandonment is also on the rise, with the number of app installs only increasing 6 percent year over year. With the rate of introduction of new apps continuing to grow at 24 percent year over year, the number of installs can not quite keep up with the volume of new apps being launched. This is more apparent among apps belonging in the top 20 percentile. In this specific app group, the volume of launches are growing at a whopping 62 percent year over year. In completing its yearly mobile benchmark report, Adobe looked into more than 290 billion visits from over 16,000 mobile websites and more than 85 billion app launches. 

Furthermore, mobile apps of today not only have to compete to persuade consumers to install them in mobile devices, they also have to deal with the fact that many apps are becoming increasingly disposable, with a good deal of them never being used again. According to Adobe’s report, about fifty percent of apps now are being used less than 10 times, and around 20 percent of apps now being used only once.

Adobe’s report also sheds some light on the reasons people get rid of their mobile apps, with data collected from over a thousand survey participants. Not surprisingly, the most cited reason, of course, is “not useful.” Even mobile games are not immune to being deleted, and some are especially vulnerable, on account of their limited life cycle. Other common reasons consumers delete apps include “loss of interest” and “too many other choices.”

Still, Adobe’s information points out that there are mobile apps that have enjoyed some growth. The most year over year growth is evident among financial services apps (29 percent), travel apps (28 percent), shopping apps (24 percent), automotive apps (21 percent), and media/entertainment apps (14 percent).  Apart from displaying growth, financial services apps also registered a 20 percent rise in installs during the first quarter of this year, and their usage rate is pretty steady all through the second quarter (increasing 14 percent year over year). As for shopping apps, usage rose during the fourth quarter of last year (up 29 percent quarter over quarter), but then slid during the first quarter of this year.