Appannie released a report that highlights the Covid-19 pandemic’s ability to advance mobile usage by 2 to 3 years, accelerating the transition to a “mobile-first” society. Spikes in video conferencing, food delivery, grocery shopping, online learning, video streaming, and telehealth have pathed the way for increasing mobile opportunities for businesses. The report reflects the increasing demand that derived from the Covid-19 outbreak, and increased mobile consumption can potentially drive an increase in sales for mobile-first and mobile-forced companies.
The mobile data and analytics analyst found that in all consumers spent 1.6 trillion hours on mobile in H1 2020 with noticeable spikes in gaming, shopping, video conferencing, and streaming video. Despite shrinking marketing budgets, mobile ad placements bucked the trend, growing 70% in H1 2020.
For the video industry in particular, the study found that fundamentally in H1 2020 consumers sought out content across a suite of apps to stay entertained in lockdown. Globally they spent 25% more time streaming their favorite shows and films in the second quarter of 2020 than in the fourth quarter of 2019. Furthermore, in all but two of the markets that the study analyzed, time spent streaming content grew from Q1 2020 to Q2 2020 as the global pandemic intensified and more countries enacted stay at home policies to limit the spread.
Netflix was the leading video streaming app by average monthly active users (MAU) in Q2 2020 in the US, excluding pre-installed apps. However, the study also showed how users sought other video streaming and social apps to fill their need for video entertainment. Netflix’s cross-app usage with TikTok increased from 15% to 45% in Q2 2020 year over year on iPhones in the US, indicating said the lines were blurring between social and traditional video streaming apps. Live streaming platform Twitch saw a 60% growth in overlap from Q1 to Q2 2020.
Appannie believes competition will intensify amidst high profile launches and expansions like Disney+, Peacock TV, and, despite its travails, Quibi. The analyst expected users to bounce between multiple video streaming apps to access a full suite of content while under Covid restrictions.
