Mobile App Downloads in India 4-Times Higher than Global Average: InMobi Report

India accounted for 14% of total app downloads, four times higher than the global average of 7% year-on-year, due to the massive digitization triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, according to an InMobi report.

In the first half of 2020 (H1 2020), India stood next only to Indonesia in terms of average time spent on mobile with a 37% spike in usage.

“The clear demand for mobile-first services from consumers has laid the foundation for India’s app economy. Depending on headwinds, 2021 promises to be a positive year for the Indian mobile marketing sector – marching steadily towards the next decade of advertising and marketing innovation,” said Vasuta Agarwal, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, InMobi.

The report titled ‘InMobi Annual Mobile Marketing Handbook’ said India leads the mobile-first economy.

Apps across categories such as Health & Fitness, Gaming, Entertainment, Long-form & Short-form video content, Hyperlocal delivery, and Learning & Education gained momentum in India following the Covid-19 related developments during the year.

From January to April 2020, Indian’s spent on entertainment apps grew by over 22%, resulting in a growth of around 47% in OTT subscription and over 26% growth in revenue, according to the report.

Growth was also witnessed in the digital payment apps market as it grew 42% during the first lockdown period between March to mid-April as compared to the pre-lockdown period.

The year 2020 also witnessed short or bite-sized video content emerging as the new source of news and entertainment content for the Gen-Z and millennials, and users are now spending an average of 40 viewing minutes on content consumption, the report added. “Vernacular language content has played a critical role in empowering both content creators and consumers.”

The mobile gaming industry has seen a massive surge in 2020, as online games emerge as the new entertainment medium among Indians.

India is now home to 1 out 10 of the world’s gamers and is poised to become one of the top mobile gaming markets in the APAC region, it said.

Arcade games grew massively at 368% growth, followed by Casual games (198%), and Casino games (160%) since the pandemic

2020 saw the addition of 321 million new internet users worldwide and a 25% spike in app downloads in H1 2020 as compared to H2 2019, while spending on app stores amounted to over $143 billion in the year 2020.