Following an initial hiccup, the Mobile App Industry has started to capitalize on the shift in consumer behavior induced by the coronavirus pandemic, exploiting it to its full potential. Changed consumer behavior as a result of the pandemic, as well as recent advancements in digitalization, provide many companies with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand and prosper.
In these tough times, organizations of all sizes are looking to seize this opportunity to appeal to people across digital channels, from start-ups to existing businesses. For example, during the pandemic, mobile apps have proven to be a lifesaver and a much-needed companion amid lockdowns and social isolation.
People can fulfill their daily needs and maintain their composure in these extremely difficult times by using various on-demand applications. The public’s enthusiasm for the mobile app opportunities that arose during the pandemic leads us to conclude that COVID-19 has sparked a new wave of digitalization.
This surge of digitalization, combined with continuing shifts in the software development industry, has stopped us from collapsing. Consumer behavior, shopping patterns, and ways of socializing and functioning have all changed as a result of the ongoing disruption, and mobile apps have primarily helped keep everyone’s schedule intact.
People have been able to adapt to this modern reality thanks to the widespread availability of mobile apps. We’ve been able to make this adjustment thanks to the growing digitalization facilitated by smartphones and mobile apps, which includes texting, online banking, healthcare, online shopping, dating, digital payments, gaming, and e-learning apps. In short, due to the strict conditions of lockout, shutdown, and quarantine, mobile apps have become more common than ever.
In this research article, we’ll look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the app development industry, from the effect on the user and business mobile app popularity to the biggest apps used during the pandemic, as well as the impact on mobile usage.
The Silver Lining of COVID-19: Pandemic-Induced Opportunities in the Mobile App and Mobile Games Industry
Opportunities in the Mobile App Industry and COVID-19
Many of the mobile app opportunities that emerged as a result of the crisis are dependent on how the COVID-19 lockdowns influenced mobile users’ behavior. After all, it’s not just a one-off with little effect, but rather a widespread trend that began as a direct result of the expanded quarantine measures placed in place and is now being adopted by virtually every major country on the planet.
Nonetheless, these effects have resulted in a slew of opportunities that have emerged in a variety of subfields within the mobile app industry. We’ve outlined each one here to demonstrate that, even in the midst of such a dire situation as this pandemic, there are several positive things to consider.
The rise in popularity of business apps that enable employees to work from home and perform remote work, for example, shows how these apps can help with COVID-19 work setup issues. Of course, that’s just one fantastic example from the vast world of mobile apps.
Education Apps
With schools and universities closed, now is clearly the time for online learning to shine. Many petitions have already been started calling for classes to be held exclusively online to help students and teachers deal with the massive disruption to education that the pandemic has caused. This necessitates better, more advanced methods for teachers to efficiently teach their students while ensuring that they remain present and engaged.
Of course, it isn’t just about the traditional school setting. Many people want to learn new skills that will help them deal with the crisis and possibly save their lives. The continued growth of education app installs is one strong example of this. There appears to be a market, and the question is how you can meet it as a developer.
Social Networking Applications
Social networking apps, including games, have always been a popular way for people to improve their social lives and connect with others. Social networking apps are effective at assisting people in coping with isolation and a lack of opportunities to socialize with friends, talk face-to-face, or participate in group events, all of which are virtually impossible to do in the COVID-19 era.
Delivery Apps
With social distancing in place and the majority of people being told to stay at home, the importance of delivery apps has never been more evident with how many people have begun to use these apps to order important grocery products and food through their phones.
In February alone, there was a 51 percent rise in the number of people using delivery apps like Instacart. When combined with other games, the rise in installs was revealed to be a whopping 166 percent. This is a noteworthy development because, if it hasn’t already, it could very well become the standard in the future, and you can only imagine how much momentum it will gain as more stringent quarantine measures are implemented.
Given the virus’s expected long lifespan, companies of all sizes will eventually begin to collaborate with these distribution companies, highlighting the tremendous potential for app growth in this region alone.
Apps for Entertainment
Entertainment is a fairly obvious powerful tool for combating boredom and keeping one from being distracted by worry. When the pandemic spread across the world, the number of people using entertainment apps increased dramatically. After all, many people, particularly the youth, have a lot of time on their hands while in quarantine, so these apps help pass the time.
Music-related entertainment applications, as well as sites that offer exclusive video services like Netflix, continue to gain popularity. It’s no longer a matter of whether or not you can invest in creating entertainment apps; it’s a question of when. The longer the quarantines and lockdowns last, the more people will seek out new types of entertainment. The best time to use your imagination in this regard is right now.
Healthcare and Telemedicine Apps
Since the COVID-19 is primarily a healthcare concern, this is possibly a no-brainer. Apps focused on health and wellness have seen a significant rise in demand, which is understandable given that the coronavirus tends to have higher mortality rates in patients who are overweight or have poor overall physical health.
Healthcare applications that provide proactive guidance on infection prevention protection measures. Given that there is so much to learn about the virus and knowledge to disseminate, apps that take the initiative to do one or both of these things would undoubtedly benefit people all over the world.
Chatbots have also been created to aid in the dissemination of coronavirus-related information and the answering of questions about it. Developers should feel free to experiment with their own variations or variations on what has been known to work.
Mental wellbeing is, of course, included in this. Experts warn that this could be the next major issue to emerge as a direct consequence of the pandemic, with a similarly terrifying scale. Now is the time to create apps that help people deal with factors that lead to this, such as the long-term loneliness and anxiety that many people will feel while on an extended quarantine.
What has been the effect of COVID-19 on Mobile App Development Services?
More prospects have opened up for small-scale developers.
COVID-19 has affected the vast majority of the world’s largest corporations. Small and medium-sized application developers, on the other hand, have seen a rise in opportunities. Fortune 500 businesses have withdrawn big contracts with larger market players in favor of seeking dependable, small-scale digital partners. Smaller digital service providers, on the other hand, have benefited from the increased economic downturn by securing larger contracts. These small companies would build an app from the ground up for large corporations, allowing them to communicate and transact remotely.
Apps for communication have become increasingly popular.
With public and private and public organizations opting to work from home, communication apps like Google Hangouts and Zoom have seen the most development. These smartphone apps have simplified job automation by allowing for seamless video and message conferencing. Apps for mobile devices make it easy to operate from anywhere. While the majority of mobile applications were unknown before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, their popularity has skyrocketed as a result of increased demand. According to data from Zoom, the number of users has risen by more than 200 million in just a few months. Also, new Skype app installations have increased by more than 66%, GoToMeeting app installations have increased by 85%, and JoinMe app installations have increased by 45%.
Apps for gaming have grown in popularity.
People in many countries around the world have been remaining at home for long periods of time when offices are operating remotely and major cities are closed. As a result, many people have searched out new ways to pass the time, resulting in a steady increase in gaming app installs. A new figure revealed a nearly 40% increase in gaming app downloads.
The number of people who have downloaded smartphone apps has risen.
People have come up with new ideas and methods for keeping themselves occupied during quarantine and self-isolation now that the world has recognized the new truth. Mobile App developers for Android and iOS have also created better and more advanced apps, while individuals consider how to benefit from app use. Payments, shopping, and other tasks are all carried out by mobile applications, which has resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of app installs. Despite the increasing number of app installs, the user lifetime value, as well as the rate of consumer spending, has decreased due to the economic recession triggered by the novel Coronavirus.
Allow COVID-19 to serve as a springboard for your next mobile app concept.
In the first quarter of 2020, approximately 1.6 trillion hours were spent on mobile applications. As part of the stay-at-home incentive, people increased their smartphone use. Although the impact of COVID-19 on the economy is mixed, the by-product results for the mobile app industry are anything but.
Users spent 27 percent of their waking hours on their phones in April 2020, up from 20 percent in 2019. The months of February and April saw significant increases in app downloads. The combined app stores for iOS and Android saw 12 billion downloads, up from 9.1 billion in the same span last year.
The download surges weren’t unjustified, and they resulted in higher user app spending. User sales on the Apple Store and Google Play Store totaled $50.1 billion in the first half of 2020. Apple received $32.8 billion, while Google Play received $17.3 billion.
But what exactly were people downloading and spending their money on?
To begin with, Tinder is the highest-grossing app on both Google Play and Apple App Stores, with $433 million in sales, followed by YouTube. You can’t put off getting an education, buying necessities, or working. These appear to be the most common download categories among Americans between March 2 and March 16. COVID-19 had such an effect on mobile apps that now is the best time to start a mobile app business.
Market Trends
Analyze the Value Chain
Mobile App Development Agency Opportunities are in high demand worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in North America, as well as in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain. The United States, Canada, and Mexico seem to have the largest markets in North America. Countries from Europe and Asia-Pacific are now moving forward. Its development in Europe is being accelerated by innovative methods. In North America, there is yet another lucrative market.
Analysis of Cumulative Growth
According to the Mobile Apps Development Market Analysis report, the market will grow at a 14 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to hit US$100 billion by 2022. The demand for this product has increased as a result of the many advantages that this mobile application provides. To satisfy demand and sustain the supply chain, Asian and North American countries are concentrating on rising production.
Market Growth Obstacles
According to a detailed study published by Market Research, the Mobile App Development Market Forecast is projected to reach US USD 100 billion in 2022. (MRFR). Because of the high demand, around 14% is expected over the study period (2018-2023). The idea is gaining traction due to a variety of factors. This article focuses on niche marketplaces. Via creativity, the businesses are planning and conducting modern business strategies. Many factors influence the development of this segment, including market size, global technology developments, capital spending, and so on. Although the industry is vast, it requires creativity, capital, and technology to thrive.
Restriction on the Market
Because of the compulsory closing of markets and factories across the world as a result of COVID-19, the industry’s growth has been severely hampered, and corporations’ profit margins have plummeted. COVID19 has thrown the whole supply chain into disarray. The continuous lockout hurt the creators’ morale. Despite high demand in some areas around the world, major retailers such as the food supermarkets, pharmaceutical industry and hypermarkets, and textiles have experienced severe shortages.
Market Possibilities are Important
The growing reliance on global IT infrastructure to help various industries around the world has increased the demand for advanced mobile apps that provide simple solutions. Additionally, companies have become more eager to merge virtualized environments, which has resulted in increased investments in-app growth. Mobile App Development Market Growth has emerged as a persuasive and simple solution to satisfy various organizational needs, prompting various machine belongings to work on it. All of these unique characteristics contribute to the market’s significant growth over the projected period.
The market for mobile app development has been very diverse. Many emerging markets, such as India, China, and Brazil, are expected to develop rapidly over the forecasted period. Also, the Pacific, followed by Latin America, is experiencing rapid growth.
The Market’s Key Drivers
The Mobile App Development Industry is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and it will continue to grow at a rapid pace, owing to the rising use of new smartphones and the global internet. The increased application of various augmented reality and virtual reality technologies are the major drivers that are encouraging the demand for mobile applications. In the current situation, major smartphones and tablets are sanctioning sensors such as modern gyroscopes, accelerometers, and separate motion sensors to ensure the incredible functionality of separate AR & VR on various mobile phones via various applications. Major games, such as “Pokémon Go,” must follow suit. The prevailing IOT supremacy in all smart homes has also had a huge effect on this. The various mobile apps, which are linked via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, manage all of the primary lighting, temperature, music, and security control panels. If it is a local application by trusted sourced developers or other Third-party developer application providers, most modern mobile apps provide a companion for the majority of smartphone users. The rise of mobile applications is noticeable, which builds several different categories of mobile app use. Many different new and existing third-party application developers are emerging into the market as a result of faster and better and big interactive user interfaces.
Europe, North America, the Pacific region, and the Rest-of-the-World (RoW) are the four major regions participating in the global Mobile App Development Market Share, based on country-level market sizing. The technical definition is rather broad; you must be familiar with every aspect of the business. Despite COVID 19, there can be no questions that the market’s existing developments and potential prospects will provide enormous growth opportunities.
What Effect Does Coronavirus Have on App Store Downloads and Revenue?
The decline in mobile app downloads and use has been a setback for developers. The effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mobile app economy, on the other hand, would be much greater than we think (for the coming year).
The revenue created by mobile apps as a result of COVID19 continues to grow, with estimates of $171 billion by the end of 2024. The overall ratio is said to be 80% higher than in 2019.
This is a goal that is expected to be met in the coming years once the epidemic has been contained.
To get a better idea of how much money is spent on app stores. The mobile app market is expected to reach $100 billion in 2020, representing a 20% rise in downloads. The revenue will also exceed expectations, especially for subscription holders in areas such as lifestyle, social networking, and entertainment.
Where does this leave you?
It would be better if you persevered now to have a bright future. Don’t wait for the seas to calm down because surviving these perilous rides is essential to your survival. Now is the time to build and market your app if you have one.
In times like these, if you can make it through the pandemic, you’ll almost certainly become a good software entrepreneur. People have returned home and are perusing the app store. What are your thoughts on the possibility of a million downloads for your app?
Covid19 is not only a health emergency but also a financial one. Several small businesses are finding it difficult to keep up with the pandemic. These companies are being put to the test by the ongoing lockdown and slowdown.
It is important to go digital to keep the company on track and survive the pandemic. It’s a smart idea to devise a plan for delivering your goods or services to consumers without them needing to visit a shop.
There’s no way your company will survive without adapting, particularly with social distancing in place and the threat of CoronaVirus. Build an app for your company to begin with.
Remember that a mobile app is the first step toward promoting remote services, which are in high demand.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there is always hope in a world that seems to be blighted by the pandemic. There are always rays of hope, and prospects for stability and development will continue to emerge if companies take the initiative to find them and, more importantly, act on them.
We at Zestminds are committed to offering the best services even during Pandemic. Our team has excelled in the last year and we continue to deliver and support our esteemed clients in every way we can. For any queries please do not hesitate to contact us at contact@zestminds.com. We will be happy to answer all your queries.
