APUS Global Mobile Application Analysis Report
Feb.2015
Section I. Overview
I. Data Sampling Range
1. Countries/regions sampled include:
The United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa
2. Data sources:
APUS user investigation and Google Play lists rankings data.
II. Conclusions
1. Amongst the various types of apps, gaming apps represented the highest proportion by category at 32%. Within the gaming category, casual games represented the highest proportion at 28%.
2. Within specific geopolitical regions, rankings of apps showed overlap. Adjacent areas are mutually influenced by similar aspects of economics, politics, culture—and these influences were reflected in the corresponding user demographics’ selection of apps. In this view, major regions of the world could be understood as: 1. The countries of Europe; 2. Japan and Korea; 3. Hong Kong and Taiwan; 4. South America; 5. “Typical” Southeast Asian countries; 6. “Atypical” Southeast Asian countries; 7. Various countries of the Middle East; and more.
3. From the standpoint of Android device distribution, the Korean mobile phone brand Samsung dominates the market, reaching market penetration levels of 47%. In addition, the top 10 mobile devices by users are all Samsung brands.
4. From a user habits point of view, Chinese users most enjoy downloading shopping apps; Japanese users most like to install entertainment gaming apps; Korean users most like tools apps; and British users most enjoy media & video apps. The two countries that have the greatest number of installed apps on average are the U.S. and Russia.
5. From the perspective of when users are most active, U.S. users tend to be more active in the afternoon hours than users in other regions, while users in Mexico lead the rest of the world in terms of both morning and afternoon usage. Globally, the times of greatest usage appear to be 7pm to 8pm and noon to 1pm-- essentially, the times before and after dinner, which means smartphones are better dinner company than any other guy sitting in front of or around you.
6. Of the apps that are most popular on a monthly basis, the Facebook apps occupied a leading position. China’s Clean Master and APUS Launcher have popularity ratings of 19 and 17, respectively, occupying global rankings of 3rd and 6th.
Section II. APUS Overview of Global Mobile Applications List
1. Applications Type Distribution
The number of countries/regions researched by Google Play totaled 500, with the number of games at 161 and the number of software lists at 339, accounting for 32% and 68% of the sampling, respectively.
2. Applications Classifications Distribution
Grouping all games into one large category, the four most popular application types as determined by the number of times the app appears on ranked lists are Games, Communications, Tools, and Social.
3. Mainstream Gaming Categories
• The top category on Google Play lists is casual games; this is in line with the trend of fragmented mobile usage in terms of timing throughout the day.
• This month, the proportion of casual games in Google Play lists rose to 44%, up from 26% last month.
Also this month, developer King released a new casual game named “Candy Crush Soda Saga”, which quickly adopted the popularity of its companion “Candy Crush Saga” and rose to the tops of lists in many countries. According to this month’s numbers, the game appeared in the “Top 20” lists of 20 countries. The popularity of this particular game had a direct effect on the increase in representation of casual games in overall rankings.
• Action games dropped in representation from 16% the previous month to 5% this month.
The effect of the recent releases of the three action games “Angry Birds Transformers,” “Asphalt: Overdrive”, and “Spiderman: Unlimited” was relatively smaller than they were in last month; at the time of sampling, “Angry Birds Transformers” and “Spiderman: Unlimited” appeared on the Top 20 lists of 3 countries, and “Asphalt: Overdrive” even disappeared entirely from the Top 20 lists.
4. Analysis of Downloads
According to data provided by Google Play, software apps not only see more mentions in various lists, but also see a greater number of downloads than do games apps.
This is because:
• Games have a short life cycle and it is tough for any one game to fulfill the wide variety of tastes of gamers in general. In contrast, software such as Facebook and WhatsApp Messenger fulfill users’ needs for socializing and communication, and are thus able to maintain large user bases as well as a longer life cycle.
• In countries with small populations and markets, a new game can reach Top 20 lists after having accrued hundreds or even tens of installs.
Section III. Regional Analyses
1. Overview
Overall, Google Play lists of traditional European countries (such as Spain and Italy), Latin America, and the Middle East match better with the rankings of other countries. In contrast, countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Russia show a smaller overlap in rankings when compared with other countries due to reasons like political or cultural barriers,
2. Characteristics of Various Regions
Summary table of overlap in Google Play lists of various regions
• Regions such as Latin America, the Middle East, and India, which boast a low “cultural output,” as well as a low amount of domestic creation of apps, tend to be more influenced by regions such as Europe and the United States. This influence is reflected in the high degree of overlap with Western countries. In these regions, the cost to acquire a large number of users is low.
• Within Europe, the frequent exchanges between countries have resulted in a high degree of overlap between the lists of different countries. These lists also overlap greatly with that of the United States.
• The rankings of the United States share a relatively high degree of overlap with lists of regions such as Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East; these lists also serve to bolster the influence of the United States in these regions.
• Southeast Asian countries are relatively complex, and are broken down for further analysis:
• Using the Philippines and Singapore as prototypical examples, the local industry has not created many domestic apps. Additionally, the regions have been vulnerable to the influence of the United States, as well as that of neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia. These influences are reflected in their app preferences.
• Using Thailand and Vietnam as prototypical examples of Southeast Asian countries, it’s evident that even under the influence of a strong western culture, these countries have been able to produce their own popular apps (for example, Thailand’s IM tool “Bee Talk”) as well as to create products that penetrate the globe (such as Vietnam’s “Flappy Bird”).
• Japan and South Korea are geographically close and boast a unique language that has distanced them culturally from the rest of the world. This is reflected in the extremely low degree of overlap between their lists and those of other countries.
Section IV. Analysis of User Behavior
1. Most Popular Mobile Phone Manufacturers
Within the Android market, Samsung boasts an overwhelming advantage, comprising nearly half of the market (47%). At the same time, China’s mobile phone makers such as Huawei, HTC, Lenovo, and ASUS have also achieved a prominent position in the market.
2. Top 10 Mobile Models
The most popular phone is Samsung. The Top 10 most used mobile models are all made by Samsung.
3. Top 10 Countries/Regions for App Downloads
On average, users around the world have installed 37 apps on their phone. Individually, China and Russia are the countries in which users have installed the most apps on average.
4. Relative Number of Downloads of Various Applications
Utility apps were the global winner in software in terms of the proportion of these apps on users’ phones, reaching 17.36% of total apps/user. Communication apps came in second, and games ranked third.
5. Favorite Application Download Categories by Country¹
[1] These “Types” align with the 9 categories that the APUS Launcher sorts applications into
6. Amount of Time Spent on Mobile Phones by Country
Overall, the data on active user times reflects typical patterns in daily routines. For example, usage rises in the morning after the general population wakes, and drops significantly following dinnertime. The most active and second most active usage times appear between 7pm and 8pm, as well as between noon and 1pm. These times align with times before and after lunch and dinner, indicating that to some extent, the mobile phone is the companion of choice for individuals all around the world at mealtimes.
7. Most Active User Times²
[2] The day has been divided into four periods of equal duration: Early Morning (Midnight-6am), Morning (6am-Noon), Afternoon (Noon-6pm), and Evening (6pm-Midnight)
Assessed by country, different countries boast different characteristics:
• The United States has the greatest amount of relative usage in the early morning hours; it is also the only country in which usage is relatively evenly spread across the four segments of time. This high amount of early morning usage also reflects negatively on the relatively late sleeping habits of the country’s citizens.
• India boasts the smallest amount of early morning usage, with usage amounts spread evenly between the other three time frames. This relatively low amount of early morning usage also reflects positively on the early sleeping habits of India’s citizens.
• In the mornings, Mexico has the most active users, and Egypt has the least active.
• In the afternoons, Mexico has the most active users, and Japan has the least active.
• In the evenings, the Turkey has the most active users, and the United States has the least active.
Section V.– Most Popular Apps
1. Most Popular Games
[3] Popularity Rating: This refers to the number of times a particular app appears in a “Top” list. For example, Candy Crush Saga does so 16 times, and so its popularity rating is a 16. The below follow the same rule.
2. Most Popular Apps
3. Emerging Apps
4. Apps with Popularity Rating Surpassed 10
The Popularity Rating of APUS reached 17, in league with Facebook’s software. Cheetah Mobile’s “Clean Master” product reached a rating of 19, ranking 4th overall globally.
About APUS Group
APUS Company was founded in June 2014, with the mission of providing the world’s mobile users with the best mobile Internet products and experiences. The APUS System includes products and services such as APUS Launcher, APUS Boost, APUS Search, APUS Radar, APUS Notification, and APUS Tools.
APUS products first went online on July 2. Within the first month, the number of users had exceeded 1 million worldwide, and 100 million users with 80 million MAU after 7 months, ranked as No.1 third-party launcher on Google Play. In November 2014, APUS Launcher was rated in the TOP 10 global mobile applications and Google global top 10 developers.
In addition to the goal of providing the best mobile Internet experience to users, the team at APUS also aspires to help China’s Internet products and services to go overseas and to successfully tackle markets across the globe. APUS aspires to become the bridge and platform for China’s mobile Internet teams and products to successfully go international.
For more information, please visit: www.apusapps.com or email: bd@apusapps.com