Mobile Growth Map 2019

Prévia do material em texto

The Mobile 
Growth Map
Charting Growth and Retention 
Around the Globe
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Growth ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Growth Score by Country ................................................................................................................... 6
Gaming Growth Score by Country .................................................................................................... 7
E-commerce Growth Score by Country ........................................................................................... 8
Entertainment Growth Score by Country ........................................................................................ 9
Utilities Growth Score by Country .................................................................................................... 10
Soft Launch Strategies ....................................................................................................................... 11
Retention ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Retention by Region ............................................................................................................................ 13
Paid vs. Organic ............................................................................................................................ 14
Retention Factor .................................................................................................................................. 15
Share of Paid vs. Organic Installs ...................................................................................................... 16
Organic Installs Over Time ................................................................................................................. 17
Country Trends in Asia Pacific .......................................................................................... 18
Spotlight: Indonesia ............................................................................................................................ 19
Spotlight: Singapore ........................................................................................................................... 20
Spotlight: India ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Mapping Out Your Mobile Growth ................................................................................. 22
Our Top 3 Takeaways ......................................................................................................................... 23
Methodology ........................................................................................................................................ 23
2018 was the year iPhone — the first smartphone of its kind — 
stalled in sales. By all accounts, this signalled an end to smartphone 
growth, but could the same be said for apps?
The GSMA estimates that there are 5.1 billion unique mobile 
subscribers (as of 2018) — with approximately 4 billion smartphones in 
circulation. This has produced a tidal wave of growth for an avalanche 
of apps. According to Sensor Tower data, first-time app installs totaled 
an incredible 56.7 billion in H1 of 2019. In a single quarter (Q2 2019), 
app market data provider App Annie tracked consumer spend on apps 
at nearly $22.6 billion — up 20% year over year. 
These records will only continue to break as mobile becomes the de 
facto choice for consumers looking to gain access to increasingly 
available services. In emerging economies, banking, certain utilities, 
and e-commerce are mobile-first in consumers’ minds (or mobile-only, 
depending on where you are). Apps in entertainment and gaming also 
give everyone a chance to access and enjoy content on a smartphone. 
Our report explores how easy these mobile-savvy consumers are 
to reach.
The Adjust Mobile Growth Map shows app marketers the growth 
potential of global markets to help them extend their footprint 
and ensure they scale successfully. Drawing from over 3,000 apps 
released in 2018, the report offers a breakdown of data by key 
metrics including growth, retention, with paid and organic splits. 
We also introduce a new and vital metric — the "Retention Factor", 
which measures paid and organic retention differences to help 
marketers approximate performance on different channels.
With our data, you can target the markets which present the 
biggest growth opportunities before you launch your app, improve 
your tactics, and reduce lengthy discussions that frequently hold 
your go-to-market strategy back.
Introduction
Paul H. Müller, 
Co-founder and CTO of Adjust
“Growing your app user base is a critical part 
of the growth equation, but in a market where 
most apps are history just 24 hours after 
the install, marketers need to focus more 
on engaging and retaining those users. To 
boost engagement, and extend the lifespan 
of the app, marketers must build data-driven 
capabilities to target users looking to churn 
and target them at critical points long before 
retention rates begin their inevitable decline.”
5The Mobile Growth Map
Growth
The Mobile Growth Map 6
Key Stats
• Vietnam, Thailand and Brazil lead the pack as the fastest-growing markets.
• Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region, with three of the top five fastest-growing nations coming from APAC. 
This contrasts with our Global App Trends report, where South America dominated.
• While Asia is in the lead, Nordic countries are among the laggards. The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany all rank low 
for growth in the chart. This suggests mature markets are seeing slower growth overall. In our view, mobile-only nations 
face less traditional competition than more-developed nations in all verticals.
Overall, this tells us that new apps aren’t being drowned out by the dominant figures in the app industry. As we’ll see, 
verticals are growing at different rates, but collectively, apps are in the ascendancy.
Growth Score by Country
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
Earlier this year, we introduced the Growth Score in our 
Global App Trends Report. The Growth Score shows which 
countries are warming to apps, and which are cooler to 
mobile technology. To calculate the Growth Score, we 
take the total installs per month and divided them by 
monthly active users (Total installs / MAU) for each vertical 
and country in our dataset. The more users that install in 
relation to the MAU, the higher the score. This essential 
metrics reveals the rate of growth that apps gain from 
installs vs. their monthly active user base.
This time around, we clearly see that newly released apps 
are gaining traction, though at different rates depending on 
the country.
Growth Score by Country
23.025.8
26.9
29.4
34.1
36.1
34.1
32.4
45.3
40,2
35,6
22.0
39.4
34.6 37.4
36.7
39.9
28.4
25.0
30.4
29.5
20.019.1
26.8
26.4
38.2 19.4
37.2
37.4
High
Middle
Average
30.9
Low
7The Mobile Growth Map
Gaming Growth Score by Country
Reams of research show Gaming apps continue to dominate 
as the leading app category, and our report confirms this 
trend. The vertical gets high marks in our Growth Score, as 
apps released in 2018 broke through the ranks. Games now 
account for 33% of installs, 10% of time spent and74% of 
spend, according to App Annie. Monetization opportunities are 
also rising, with hyper-casual leading a new wave of innovation 
that allows marketers to effectively monetize Games powered 
by increased brand involvement and compelling video ads. 
Better devices and more bandwith in many developing 
markets ensure apps are downloaded quickly and provide a 
better environment for casual and hardcore gamers — and 
everyone in-between.
Key Stats
• South America rules as the leading growth region, 
with four of the top five fastest-growing countries 
located there. No surprise that LATAM could be a 
prime market for soft launching your app (see p. 9).
• Growth is relatively slow in advanced economies, 
suggesting such countries are interested in playing 
games they already have. Japan, Singapore, Canada 
and the U.S. all rank relatively low on our chart.
• That said, Growth Scores are much higher in Gaming 
overall, averaging at 43. This far surpasses the 
performance of other verticals, which suggests 
Gaming is a leading app category, delivering 
innovation and engaging experiences. Audiences 
everywhere simply can’t get enough.
0.00 15.0 30.0 45.0
42.85
Global average
60.0
55.25
54.55
54.46
53.20
51.57
51.40
51.19
50.96
50.08
48.32
46.88
46.09
43.61
42.61
41.79
41.32
38.47
38.14
37.34
36.44
36.29
36.14
35.56
35.31
33.72
32.82
40.83
40.54
40.18
39.77
23.40
Colombia
Brazil
Argentina
India
Mexico
Vietnam
Russia
Chile
Poland
Egypt
Thailand
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
Myanmar
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
France
Netherlands
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
Denmark
U.S.
Canada
Singapore
Japan
Indonesia
Belgium
Italy
UAE
Gaming Growth Score by Country
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
8The Mobile Growth Map
11.23
49.83
48.42
46.36
44.95
44.59
43.68
43.0
42.64
41.54
38.23
34.02
30.22
27.38
24.35
23.53
22.84
19.7
19.46
18.59
18.51
17.73
14.8
12.85
11.35
21.35
20.0
19.91
19.87
10.9
Colombia
Brazil
Argentina
India
Mexico
Vietnam
Russia
Chile
Poland
Egypt
Thailand
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
France
Netherlands
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
Denmark
U.S.
Canada
Singapore
Japan
Indonesia
Belgium
Italy
UAE
28.06
Global average
12.50.0 25.0 37.5 50.0
E-Commerce Growth Score by Country
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
E-commerce Growth Score by Country
If analysts aren’t talking about Gaming, then they’re probably 
focused on E-commerce. eMarketer estimates shopping app 
downloads grew to 5.7 billion worldwide in 2018, up 9.3% over 
2017. Moreover, the research firm forecasts that mobile’s share 
of revenue will improve, reaching 35% of all U.S. e-commerce 
sales in 2019 (an increase of 5% from 2018). Usage may be 
soaring, but innovation is trailing in some countries. Shoppers 
find issues with latency, and too many steps to conversion, as 
the most frustrating parts of app commerce. Streamlining the 
user experience would help spur additional app growth.
Key Stats
• Mexico, Chile and Colombia see the highest growth.
• There is a stark divide between nations above and 
below the E-commerce average. Countries that perform 
above the average hold a Growth Score of 42.29. 
Below average countries receive a score of 18.56.
• You might assume that the low scores are a clear 
indication that saturation in these mature markets 
has set in. But this is not what the data tells us. In 
Japan (the third largest purchaser of online goods), 
E-commerce sales account for 9.7% of total retail 
sales, according to Statista. In the U.S., E-commerce 
represented 14.3% of total retail in 2018, according 
to Digital Commerce 360. It may be that consumers 
simply prefer the web, but there is space for growth. 
More research highlights a new threat facing 
E-commerce apps: the comeback of physical stores 
that enjoy a higher level of popularity and trust 
among consumers (as research shows). Apps in 
these countries will have to do more to get a bigger 
mindshare — and share of wallet.
9The Mobile Growth Map
Entertainment Growth Score by Country
Colombia
Brazil
Myanmar
Argentina
India
Mexico
Vietnam
Russia
Chile
Poland
Egypt
Thailand
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
France
Netherlands
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
Denmark
U.S.
Canada
Singapore
Japan
Indonesia
Belgium
Italy
UAE
24.27
Global average
0.0 12.5 25.0 37.5 50.0
12.93
44.96
44.21
36.61
34.87
32.47
30.54
30.04
29.47
28.84
27.21
25.99
25.15
25.12
25.11
24.76
23.44
19.65
19.11
18.97
18.81
18.14
16.91
16.52
15.37
22.73
21.5
20.69
19.94
12.48
9.94
Entertainment apps take significant credit for the rise in 
smartphone usage. According to eMarketer, time spent on 
mobile devices rose to almost four hours per day. Of this, 
“digital audio accounts for the biggest share of time spent, 
with social media and digital video following.” Video streaming 
services, karaoke and music apps engage users for long 
stretches of time, and present an opportunity for diverse, 
relevant advertising. These apps are a perfect fit with mobile-
only markets, where mobile apps (not TV) are the only way to 
access content on-demand and on the device of their choice.
Key Stats
• Vietnam, Russia and Thailand top our Entertainment 
Growth Score chart. It’s the first time that multiple 
regions take the top three spots in our report.
• The U.K. appears relatively high on the chart by 
European standards, echoing the findings of Ofcom’s 
recent report which found “video-on-demand and 
streamed content is becoming a central part of adults’ 
viewing landscape.”
• To succeed, brands need to get personal. Companies 
drive repeat engagement through rich content — think 
Spotify’s ‘Discover Weekly’, which creates new playlists 
of music based on the user’s tastes, always giving the 
user a reason to return.
Entertainment Growth Score by Country
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
10The Mobile Growth Map
Utilities Growth Score by Country
Though most often associated with flashlights, Utilities apps 
include keyboards, browsers, password protection, VPNs, file 
organizers, apps for office work, and weather apps. These 
apps offer the ability to save photos with more security, to 
work on the go, and generally provide people with the means 
to cover their day to day activities. The more mobile-only a 
country is, the more likely the phone becomes the center of 
their working world, as much as their leisure.
Increasingly, we believe Utilities will be a sleeper hit. 
Browsers dominate, but keyboard apps and font packs also 
top download charts. Though users are becoming more 
familiarized with Finance apps, they haven't yet made the 
jump to managing bills and subscriptions — but change is 
sure to come.
Key Stats
• Though Myanmar tops the charts, the Middle East is 
heavily represented, with UAE and Saudi Arabia close to 
the top of the growth curve.
• South Korea typically appears in the middle of growth 
for this vertical, but here it far surpasses global averages. 
Growth potential varies highly within Asia Pacific.
• Though Android leads the way as the device OS of 
choice in mobile-first nations, Growth Scores compared 
to iOS are remarkably similar. Android’s Growth Score is27.8, while iOS’ is 28.
Utilities Growth Score by Country
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
Colombia
Brazil
Myanmar
Argentina
India
Mexico
Vietnam
Russia
Chile
Poland
Egypt
Thailand
South Korea
Spain
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
France
Netherlands
Sweden
Germany
U.K.
Denmark
U.S.
Canada
Singapore
Japan
Indonesia
Belgium
Italy
UAE
0.0 12.5 37.5 50.025.0
20.86
41.78
37.52
34.57
32.9
32.0
31.6
31.37
31.33
30.53
29.65
28.52
28.26
27.82
27.31
26.75
26.28
24.23
24.01
23.92
23.68
23.22
22.8
22.68
21.3
26.47
26.35
25.58
24.69
19.84
19.62
27.34
Global average
11The Mobile Growth Map
Soft Launch Strategies
Without a soft launch, marketers are flying blind when 
it comes to releasing their apps in new territories. As 
Ignasi Prat, a product and digital marketing leader and 
professor, has written, “A successful soft launch will 
inform whether or not a game will generate significant 
revenues, traction and acceptance.”
If you’re preparing to release your app in markets with 
high growth potential, first consider whether you should 
release in smaller local markets that provide a litmus 
test for your app before you publish in your target 
country. Soft launches also allow you to gather data on 
performance and further optimize your app for better 
engagement. A soft launch also yields the hard data to 
help you make tough decisions. Is your game profitable? 
Should you kill it before spending more time, and 
money, on a failing product? A soft launch will give you 
answers and confidence in your business decisions.
Before you get started with your soft launch, you need 
to do your homework. Find markets where the cost of 
acquisition offers value for money, and plan to launch in 
countries (at least three) that closely mirror your target 
market. Even better if you choose countries in the 
same region. If the U.S. is your target, soft launching in 
Canada, the U.K., or even Australia and New Zealand 
can provide comparable benchmarks for performance. If 
China is your target market, then focus on surrounding 
countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. With 
significant Chinese-speaking populations, your app is 
ready for testing without the need for full localization.
If you’re experimenting with paid campaigns, budget 
is also a big consideration. To help you allocate spend 
(and benchmark your results), let this table with data 
provided from Liftoff’s Mobile App Engagement Index be 
your guide. It shows how CPIs and CPAs can span from 
high to low. 
For more on soft launches, take a look at Adjust’s 
article here.
APAC
Install $1.61
$1.62
$3.82
$109.99
$21.35
$114.81
$2.50
$3.40
$6.83
$83.66
$34.22
$93.32
$2.46
$4.79
$5.15
$91.94
$18.22
$107.53
$3.85
$6.88
$42.83
$105.51
$84.88
$84.48
Register
Reserve
IAP
Purchase
Subscribe
EMEA LATAM NAR
Source: 2018 Mobile App Engagement Index by Leanplum and Liftoff
12The Mobile Growth Map
Retention
The Mobile Growth Map
13The Mobile Growth Map
Growth is only one side of the equation. Without keeping 
users, you’re burning cash. So how well does your app stack 
up? We’ve arranged typical retention rates by country and 
vertical to discover how well newly released apps retain 
their users over time.
• E-commerce retention rates average around 19% on 
Day 1, falling to 9% on Day 7 and 4% by Day 30. Of 
all regions, South America has the highest retention, 
with Brazilian users retaining best (as the IDC found, 
Brazilians perform more financial transactions via 
smartphone than anywhere else in the region). 
• Entertainment retention is tightly clustered — the 
maximum deviation is 5%, and by Day 30 all apps are 
within 1% of each other. On Day 1, an average of 20% 
of users return. By Day 30, this figure is just 3%. 
• The highest retention of any vertical, Gaming, 
averages at 34% on Day 1, and 15% on Day 7. Even 
by Day 30, 6% of users are opening the app every 
day. That said, Gaming drops 19% of their total initial 
user base between Day 1 and Day 7 — the steepest 
decline of any vertical. This sharp drop is likely due 
to casual games, which drive installs but also churn 
with experiences that amaze but don’t retain for long 
periods. North American users retain best.
• Utilities have the lowest retention of any category, 
averaging 8% on Day 1, 4% on Day 7, and 2% on Day 
30. Low retention may have more to do with the 
nature of Utilities, but might also speak to low use of 
what would be considered daily-use apps.
E-COMMERCE
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES
UTILITIES
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 7 14 21 28
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 7 14 21 28
1 7 14 21 28 1 7 14 21 28
1 7 14 21 28
NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA EUROPE
MIDDLE EAST ASIA PACIFIC
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
Retention
14The Mobile Growth MapThe Mobile Growth Map
Paid vs. 
Organic
15The Mobile Growth Map
Retention Factor
Retention is a significant measure of the impact and effect of your paid campaigns and organic reach. To help 
you grasp this concept and make it core to your growth strategy, Adjust has developed a new metric called the 
Retention Factor. The metric is calculated by dividing organic retention by paid retention (Organic Retention 
Rate / Paid Retention Rate), showing how organic users retain vs. paid. By comparing with our figures, you 
can find out if your paid campaigns overperform, or if organics dominate. This could even help you uncover 
organic cannibalization, something that applying incrementality can solve.
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
RETENTION FACTOR 
BY VERTICAL
Entertainment 170% 
E-commerce 90%
Games 20%
Colombia
France
Mexico
Myanmar
Vietnam
Sweden
Turkey
U.S.
India
Egypt
Germany
Taiwan
Spain
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
Russia
Netherlands
Brazil
U.K.
Argentina
Singapore
Chile
Italy
Denmark
UAE 71%
79%
52%
43%
41%
40%
36%
32%
31%
30%
24%
22%
21%
18%
16%
10%
9%
9%
8%
4%
4%
14%
13%
12%
11%
0% 10% 20% 40%30% 60% 70% 80% 90%50%
Retention Factor by Country
21%
Global average
Key Stats
• Organic users retain better overall.
• Paid users in Thailand, Indonesia, Poland and Belgium 
retain better than their organic counterparts.
• Organic users in Vietnam, UAE and Egypt perform much 
better, with dramatically lower paid retention than 
elsewhere. Curiously, three have wildly different share 
of paid, as you’ll see in the chart on page 14.
 
A simple way to boost engagement rests on your ability 
to use your data to find and target users who churn 
just before sweet spots in the customer journey. For a 
Gaming app, if you see that in-app purchases rise after 
completing level 7, then target users who lapse after 
level 6, and reap the benefits.
16The Mobile Growth Map
Share of Paid vs. Organic Installs
If you doubt the power of paid marketing, think again. In Adjust’s Global App Trends report, we looked at 
how vertical discovery differs between paid and organic sources to highlight how users find apps in radically 
different ways. Here, we take the analysis a huge step further, lookingat country data to see where paid 
installs have the most influence on outcomes.
Share of Paid Installs by Country
Key Stats
• The countries receiving the highest amounts of paid 
traffic are Egypt (61%), Saudi Arabia (57%) and the 
U.S. (55%).
• Elsewhere, organics dominate. Myanmar (26%), 
Turkey (35%) and Vietnam (37%) maintain a majority 
of organic traffic.
• iOS has slightly higher paid traffic (47%) than Android 
(40%). Egypt (62%), Saudi Arabia (57%) and the U.S. 
(56%) drive the most paid Android traffic. Saudi Arabia 
(56%) and the U.S. (54%) also appear in the top iOS 
paid rankings.
Increasing paid traffic literally pays dividends, but the 
majority of countries are organic-first. So how do you 
increase the number of paid users for your app? It’s 
a relatively simple proposition: spend more! That, or 
personalize to engage existing users. As Clevertap points 
out, “the smartness is in taking personalization beyond 
the obvious and providing users with smart messaging 
based on their buying history, making recommendations 
based on their buying frequency.” Personalization must 
go beyond simple form filling, and actively engage and 
curate content for each user.
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
Brazil
Russia
Netherlands
UAE
Egypt
Argentina
Colombia
Taiwan
Germany
U.S.
Indonesia
Denmark
Sweden
Chile
Turkey
Myanmar
France
Malaysia
Italy
Singapore
India
Poland
Mexico
U.K.
Thailand
Belgium
Vietnam
Spain
Saudi Arabia
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
26%
57%
61%
55%
51%
50%
50%
50%
46%
45%
45%
45%
39%
39%
38%
37%
35%
44%
44%
44%
42%
42%
42%
41%
39%
46%
47%
49%
49%
45%
Global average
17The Mobile Growth Map
Paid vs. Organic Installs Over Time
A critical question often unanswered is “when should 
marketers start their paid activities after release?” 
Thanks to our findings, we can show the share of paid 
vs. organic installs over time, revealing when marketers 
spend in order to drive more paid traffic to their app. 
The higher the figure, the more installs are driven by 
paid. Three verticals split our findings, all performing 
with significant differences.
Key Stats
• On launch, Entertainment apps drive a higher percentage of paid users to their apps than any other — 
75% in the first week of install. This activity drops significantly by week 3 (34%), rallying four months after 
the initial launch.
• E-commerce apps couldn’t be more different, launching with minimal paid activity. This slowly increases over 
time, peaking at 72% in week 18. 
• Gaming apps perform consistently, averaging 47% paid of the total traffic over time. There’s a week window 
for post-launch analysis before real paid campaigning begins.
• Significantly, Gaming apps in the U.S. have the highest percentage of paid installs (66% on week 3). This 
is a reflection of the quality of games, the passion of fans and the status of the U.S. as a “petri dish” of 
performance marketing. Marketers there have mastered what it takes to stay ahead.
Knowing when to spend is just half the battle. Knowing that the budget is used effectively is another proposition. 
Fraudulent sources can take a toll on your ad spend, so consider running fraud prevention to cover your campaign 
budgets and data.
Percentage of Paid Installs Over Time
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
ENTERTAINMENT GAMESE-COMMERCE
Week
18The Mobile Growth MapThe Mobile Growth Map
Country Trends 
in Asia Pacific
Three Countries Spotlights in 
a Mobile-first Region
19The Mobile Growth Map
We looked at ARPU data from one of Indonesia’s largest platforms. 
On average, organic users spent $16 per week, while paid users spent 
$9 per week. 
In our Global App Trends Report, Indonesia was named 
the “fastest-growing market,” with a rate that doubled 
the next best (Brazil). The popularity of Gaming, as well 
as video and streaming services, spurred this shift. App 
Annie, for instance, found that Indonesian users spending 
the most time per day in-app — four hours, on average. 
Though apps released in 2018 saw massive growth in 
Games and Utilities, ongoing retention performance of 
Entertainment is higher than elsewhere. This suggests 
that mobile is the place where Indonesians consume 
their media.
Why does Indonesia achieve such scale? A dive into 
demographic data shows the country has a perfect storm 
of conditions conducive to growth. For one, the country is 
young. Nearly half (42%) of the population of Indonesia is 
under 24. Two, It’s a user segment that is flocking to more 
affordable devices. According to the GSMA, the cost of 
devices fell “from 4.6% of income to 1% of income.” Youth 
is particularly drawn to Gaming apps — the highest Growth 
Score of all (40.83). Indeed, apps are more widespread 
among a digitally-native generation.
However, Gaming is a little behind global growth 
averages when you compare by vertical. Utilities apps 
nearly match the same rate, and have a higher growth 
score by 10 compared to global scores. Notably, the 
performance of Utilities is driven by weather apps. 
Indonesian users buck the trend of using default 
weather apps, but are highly active in their use, in a 
region particularly averse to downpours.
Spotlight: Indonesia
Indonesia's Growth Score by Vertical
GAMES
E-COMMERCE
ENTERTAINMENT
UTILITIES
40.83
38.23
32.42
26.48
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES UTILITIES
E-COMMERCE
Indonesia's Retention by Vertical
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 7 14 21 30
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
20The Mobile Growth Map
Singapore's Growth Score by Vertical
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
Spotlight: Singapore
Singapore is the ninth-richest country in the world, per 
capita. In such a highly-developed economy, mobile 
device adoption is high (Singapore has 8.4 million mobile 
subscriptions in a population of 5.64 million) but app 
growth tends to be low. For example, mobile banking 
growth is stalled by a “sophisticated and established 
traditional ecosystem,” along with abundant competition. 
This state of the market is confirmed in our findings. 
While Games has a strong Growth Score, and retains 
comparatively well (better than Indonesia by Day 30), 
other apps fall flat.
E-commerce, Entertainment and Utilities only keep 2% 
of their users by Day 7. These verticals average at 
6% retention globally, meaning users in Singapore are 
much more likely to churn if they don’t enjoy their 
in-app experience.
iOS is synonymous with moderate market share 
(accounting for only 38% of total devices) and low 
retention. These users churn quickly — and Adjust 
data supports this. A prime example is Entertainment 
apps. On Day 1 after install, Android users have a 16% 
retention rate, 2x the rate of iOS users who come in at 
8%. This split is consistent for all app categories except 
Gaming apps — a crowd-pleasing vertical that has broad 
appeal, regardless of operating system.
Overall, Singapore’s Growth Score is considerably lower 
than elsewhere. For example, Gaming has a lower Growth 
Score by 10 compared to global averages. Other verticals 
mirror this trend. Lacklustre growth dovetails with 
observations in Adobe’s CMO magazine, which recognized 
that while Singaporeappears to be a tough market, 
“marketers need to understand their activity profile.” To 
achieve growth in Singapore, marketers need to approach 
users at the exact moment they’re ready to shop, and do 
so increasingly through social channels.
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES UTILITIES
E-COMMERCE
Singapore's Retention by Vertical
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 7 14 21 30
GAMES
UTILITIES
ENTERTAINMENT
E-COMMERCE
32.82
24.01
16.91
11.23
21The Mobile Growth Map
Spotlight: India
India is the world’s third-largest economy, representing 
a potential growth market unlike any other. But it’s also 
home to 24 languages and 720 dialects, which makes 
app localization a serious challenge for those looking 
to enter the country. Users in India are clearly loyal to 
their apps — but maintaining this requires campaigns 
and advertising that strike a chord. A report from InMobi 
puts heavy emphasis on language: “The number of 
people in India who speak Indian vernacular languages 
is around 500 million — almost five times the number 
of people who speak English.” As such, local language 
support and the Indic keyboard in smartphones 
becomes a pressing need. Extending localization to your 
messaging is also essential, and as such, launching an 
app in the region becomes much more challenging.
According to eMarketer, in India, “adults spend 1 hour, 
12 minutes online per day, and the majority of that 
time (76.5%) will be via mobile devices.” Consumers are 
connecting to more modern forms of content, whether 
in-app or elsewhere: “Video takes the largest share 
of content consumed on mobile internet, projecting 
growth from 49% in 2016 to 75% in 2021,” says the 
MMA. This explains why Day 1 — 7 retention for Gaming 
and Entertainment apps is healthy.
Overall, India scores high on our Growth Score, with 
Games (+10.3), Utilities (+10.2) and E-commerce (+16.9) well 
above global averages. That means that if you can crack 
the language, you’re more than likely to scale.
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES UTILITIES
E-COMMERCE
India's Retention by Vertical
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1 7 14 21 30
India's Growth Score by Vertical
GAMES
E-COMMERCE
UTILITIES
ENTERTAINMENT
53.20
44.95
37.52
19.11
All data presented has been collected from Adjust's platform, and is aggregated and anonymized. The dataset consists of 3,454 apps.
22The Mobile Growth Map
Mapping Out 
Your Mobile 
Growth
The Mobile Growth Map
The Mobile Growth Map 23
What can we learn from all of this?
1. Gaming apps continue to grow as the leading 
app category, but Entertainment apps are taking 
a significant share of in-app time. Perhaps Gaming 
apps have had it easy, but the category will now 
have to compete harder for mindshare in the future.
2. The Retention Factor reveals that organic users 
retain better, but the difference is close (and 
reversed in some countries). Focus on where users 
churn, and retarget effectively to bring them back.
3. Asia Pacific is primed to rise, and is a perfect place 
to soft launch a new app (without the heavy lifting 
of a full localization). Indonesia, Singapore and 
India, as well as Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand 
represent great opportunities.
Notes on methodology and sample size
To create this report, we took apps launched on 
the App and Google Play Stores in 2018 across 31 
countries and four verticals. This dataset consists of 
3,454 apps.
The distribution by verticals is the following:
• E-commerce: 141
• Entertainment: 431
• Games: 2,710
• Utilities: 172
To calculate the Growth Index, we took the 1,000 
highest-performing apps by sessions on our platform. 
Out of these, 680 were under the E-commerce, 
Games, Entertainment and Utilities verticals.
Our Top 3 Takeaways
www.adjust.com
Who is Adjust?
Adjust is the industry leader in mobile measurement and fraud prevention. 
The globally operating company provides high-quality analytics, 
measurement and fraud prevention solutions for mobile app marketers 
worldwide, enabling them to make smarter, faster marketing decisions. 
Adjust is a marketing partner with all major platforms, including Facebook, 
Google, Snap, Twitter, Line, and WeChat. In total, more than 25,000 
apps have implemented Adjust's solutions to improve their performance. 
Founded in 2012, today Adjust has global offices in Berlin, New York, San 
Francisco, Sao Paulo, Paris, London, Moscow, Istanbul, Seoul, Shanghai, 
Beijing, Tokyo, Bengaluru and Singapore.
In December 2018, Adjust acquired the data aggregation platform 
Acquired.io. The comprehensive SaaS solution automates and simplifies 
multi-channel campaign management for mobile user acquisition. This 
addition is part of Adjust's goal to unify advertisers' marketing efforts and 
build the best-in-class product.
If you want to learn more, get in touch.