iPhone 5 anticipation creates mobile app marketing challenges

Yesterday Apple confirmed the much-anticipated announcement of the iPhone 5 slated for Oct. 4th. Today, TechCrunch reports that 41 percent of U.S. mobile users intend to buy the new device, citing survey results from mobile ad network InMobi.

It’s no wonder. Rumors and speculation about the new iPhone have been circulating for months, firing up consumer desire and purchase intent.

But how did this anticipation impact the world of mobile app marketing? Significantly, it appears. According to the latest data from our Fiksu Indexes, August was a challenging month for mobile app marketers.

This waiting game, as described in an article in today’s PaidContent, can often lead to a slowdown in new device purchases. What’s more, according to the Fiksu Indexes, fewer apps were downloaded and subsequently used in August. Our research also determined a significant decline in organic downloads. The combined effect caused a significant spike in marketing costs to acquire loyal users (those who opened an app three times or more).

• The August App Store Competitive Index, which tracks the aggregate volume of downloads per day achieved by the Top 200 ranked free iPhone apps in the U.S., revealed that the volume of downloads decreased by almost five percent to 4.06 million from 4.25 million in July.
• The August Cost per Loyal User Index, which measures the cost of acquiring a loyal user for brands who proactively market their apps, jumped 28.3 percent – 34 cents – from July’s $1.20 to $1.54.

Josh Martin, director of apps research at Strategy Analytics offered this analysis, "The app stores are constantly moving targets which present mobile app marketers with an ever-changing set of competitive pressures and budgetary decisions. The Fiksu Indexes provide marketers with a macroview of this competitive landscape accounting for major market events such as the banning of incentivized downloads and anticipation of iPhone 5 – valuable insight in an increasingly fractured market."

Thanks to GoMoNews, Mobile Marketing Magazine, PaidContent and Softpedia for reporting the latest Index data to their readers.

For more information, charts and full analysis of the new Index data, please visit our Index resource library.