Strong device sales, driven by the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, pushed Apple’s iOS App Store download numbers to record levels in October. Mobile marketing firm Fiksu reports app downloads reached a record-setting high of 7.8 million per day across the top 200 free iOS apps.
This is a 42 percent jump from September and a 39 percent increase year-over-year, with the trend expected to continue into the holidays.
Fiksu also observed that by nurturing a loyal user base, app developers can ensure that users will immediately add their favorite apps to new devices.
Despite the marked rise in advertising costs particularly on iOS, the Cost Per Loyal User Index (CPLU) indicated a slight decline in October to $2.16 from September’s $2.25. This decrease is a result of the tendency of app users to quickly re-download their most-used “vital” apps during upgrades. The first set of apps users download on their new iPhone 6s are likely to be those they can’t live without, which makes them much more likely to become loyal users of those apps.
October’s growth came in the wake of the September debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, along with the October release of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. The release of iOS 8, and a flood of apps taking advantage of its new features, also drove download numbers.
Apple announced in September that there are more than 1.3 million applications available in the App Store in 155 countries. The App Store logs more than 300 million visitors each week.
