App sales hotting up
Intense separation measures and a new social distancing culture has transformed the app industry to be as hot as ever, social media analysts say.
People are now spending more than four hours a day using apps, they guestimate.
Now more than ever, people are realizing that Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big business.
Downloads in Zoom, one of the dozens of video conferencing services, has risen to the top not only here but in the world. It’s increased 30 times year-over-year, data show. With many businesses in affected areas embracing work from home policies, workers are turning to mobile apps to communicate, collaborate and teleconference to continue working without interruption. Their top choice, ZOOM Cloud Meetings as a result is seeing top downloads.
The next most downloaded app in Sri Lanka from the Apple App Store is the Microsoft Teams followed by WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Helakuru and telegram messenger. In the medical category, ODoc, D B P Weight Scale, e-channeling, Heart Blood Pulse Monitor, Glucose Buddy Diabetes Tracker, Pregnancy app and Blood pressure Tracker come on top. Interestingly, TikTok – both a platform for passing the time by watching short looping videos and by creating these videos and social networking with others in efforts to attract viewers has also been quite popular during the past two months.
While ride-sharing aps haven’t made money, the number of delivery app downloads has also increased by 15 per cent last month compared to the same period in March 2019, analysts also said. “No one expected that this kind of epidemic could grow so fast, and that created an opportunity for these companies,” an analyst noted. The 54 per cent penetration in smartphone usage has helped the hike in app sales.
It’s almost a wonder how coronavirus has influenced our mobile actions and how it’s expected to for the weeks to come. As more countries and businesses take precautionary measures to flatten the curve of COVID-19, consumers stay home and self-isolate, fresh consumer behaviour will emerge in nearly every industry.