If you’ve got a user base of over 1 billion active devices, do you think you can get 0.01 percent of your users to download a new app that you create? Well, Apple did, and the Clips app on Apple’s App Store has just hit the “500,000 – 1,000,000 downloads” milestone within the first four days of being launched on the App Store for iOS 10.3 users, according to data from App Annie.
How did Apple manage that?
It’s simple, and it’s called advertising. Not only did Apple put banner ads for the Clips app on its App Store’s home page, but also in the Photo & Video app category. In addition, it bumped the Clips app to Numero Uno position on the “New apps we love” list.
What’s more, the app received a significant amount of coverage on mainstream online media as well as on Apple News, the iOS-only news channel for Apple’s device users.
But it’s not great news.
Is it any wonder then that a minuscule half million to a million users ended up downloading the app on their devices? It might look impressive that it happened within four days of the launch, but not in any other sense.
When you consider that the adoption rate for iOS 10.3 is about 79 percent or more of Apple’s device install base of hundreds of millions of devices – from iPhone 5s through iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, as well as iPad (Air, Mini, Pro) and iPod Touch 6th generation – it’s surprising that an app exclusively for iOS 10.3 and up would gain so little initial traction.
Another interesting statistic from App Annie is the fact that 25 percent of those who downloaded the Clips app are from the United States, with China accounting for about 16 percent and Japan, Russia and Hong Kong collectively making up the Top 5 countries where the Clips app was most downloaded.
What’s really surprising is that there hasn’t been more traction for the Clips app, which is an easy tool for editing and sharing video clips on messaging and social media apps. In fact, as an iOS 10.3 exclusive app, it should have gotten far more downloads in the first week. It’s certainly no Pokémon Go or Super Mario Run, but it could still hit 1+ million in the first week considering it was launched on April 6 and the one-week period ends on April 13.
Oddly, despite the widespread coverage and active promotion on App Store, Danielle Levitas, Senior Vice President, Research & Professional Services at App Annie says:
“The average user is not yet aware of it. They’ll start to become more aware of it through that network effect as people share these clips in Facebook, in Instagram, in WeChat,”
The network effect may well help promote the app, but it’s far too early to dig into the volume of shared videos. We’ll have to give it at least a month before such numbers can be mined.
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Source: TechCrunch
