Record number of apps downloaded on Christmas but growth slowing

When it comes to app downloads, no day is more important than Christmas.

Each year, millions of new tablets and smartphones are given as gifts, which means users turn on their gadgets and quickly start downloading apps, making Dec. 25 a gold rush for software developers.

But the growth rate for Christmas Day app downloads is slowing, according to Flurry, an analytics and advertising firm.

Although Christmas 2013 saw a record-breaking level of app downloads, overall app downloads increased by 11% from a year earlier. By comparison, app downloads increased by 90% on Christmas in 2012.

Flurry based its numbers on a network of 400,000 mobile apps that it tracks globally.

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“The size of the Christmas download spike is diminishing over time as the app market matures and globalizes,” Flurry said in a report Monday.

“Fewer people are coming online with mobile for the very first time,” Flurry said. “Consumers who are on second, third or fourth devices have apps that they like and trust, and while they still download new apps, there isn’t much more impetus to do so on Christmas than any other day when they have a little downtime.”

This means developers should no longer rely on Christmas as heavily as they have in the past.

“The successful developers in 2014 and beyond will be those who put in the hard work of identifying a target group of users, creating apps that work well for them, and continually refining and reinventing mobile experiences to profitably retain those users,” Flurry said.

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