Dive Brief:
- According to Nielsen, the top ten apps in terms of U.S. popularity are by Facebook, Google and Apple, with Facebook’s core app at number one with almost 127 million average monthly users.
- Nielsen also reports that smartphone penetration reached 80% at the end of the third quarter.
- Facebook Messenger had the most growth at 31%.
Dive Insight:
Facebook, Google and Apple have effectively taken over the app market in the U.S. Combined they hold the top ten spots in terms of unique users, according to Nielsen.
Facebook and Google rule the top five: Facebook’s core app leads the list followed by YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Google Search and Google Play. All five grew in monthly users over last year. Facebook's Messenger led by a wide margin at 31%. Instagram saw double digit growth at 23%.
Separately, smartphone penetration hit 80% in the U.S., with Android accounting for 52.6% and Apple 42.7%.
The data is based on Nielsen's monthly survey of more than 30,000 mobile subscribers in the U.S. Nielsen explains they ask smartphone users to specify what mobile phone they use and weighs that information to be "demographically representative of mobile subscribers" in America.
These findings are especially significant as mobile makes its mark and advertisers redefine their strategies with a mobile-first outlook. In fact, on Black Friday this year for the first time more consumers shopped via their digital devices than in-store and over the whole Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, mobile sales grew 25.7% from last year. Further, per Pew Research, 65% of all adults use social media.
What's more, Andrew Waber, market insights and media relations manager for Nanigans, told Marketing Dive that Facebook is currently the largest display advertising channel in the world. For good reason, marketers should take note of these figures and retool their 2016 strategies accordingly.
