Mobile apps usage continued to grow through the entire 2014. However, consumers showed less interest in entertainment and gaming apps and focused their attention on shopping and productivity applications. That conclusion was made in a report by Yahoo’s Flurry Analytics. The researched examined mobile apps usage, as well as the development and growth of the mobile apps market in 2014. The study showed that mobile device are no longer used as an entertainment toy, but they actually play a key role in shopping and professional activities.
Last year, mobile app usage increased by 76% on the average. Apps that witnessed the biggest rise were the ones focused on shopping, messaging, utilities and productivity. Each category saw an impressive triple digit rise.
That is a new tendency on the mobile market. Prior to 2014, the main growth leaders were applications dedicated to gaming and entertainment. In contrast, last year, these two app categories registered the smallest growth rate. The research has discovered that in 2014 mobile users leaned towards more “serious” apps.
Shopping and lifestyle apps witnessed the most impressive increase. Their year-over-year growth reached 174% both on iOS and Android devices. Still, Android users were more interested in mobile shopping, since the rise of these apps was estimated at around 220%.
So, what created this shopping phenomenon? The study explains the new trend with the fact that mobile users no longer use shopping apps just to browse and compare products. They have finally started to make purchases. According to the research, consumers use mobile shopping apps when they are not at home. A significant part of them used shopping apps when they commute or during their lunch break.
Second were utilities and productivity mobile apps. The rise they registered is estimated at 121%. The report states that this shows that smartphones and tablets have entered users’ professional life. People now rely more on these smart mobile gadgets for work.
The rise of messaging apps, which was first spotted in 2013, continued throughout 2014 as well. The popularity of massaging and social applications increased by 103%. Nevertheless, that is 12% lower compared to the 2013 growth rate for this mobile app category.
Other app categories that witnessed an increase were health and fitness (89%), sports (74%), as well as news and magazines (49%).
What about entertainment and gaming applications? They are at the very bottom. Music, media and entertainment apps jumped by 33% compared to a growth of 79% in 2013. Mobile games, on the other hand, saw an increase of just 30%, which is 31% lower compared to 2013.
