iPhone 4S Causes Surge in App Downloads, Study Shows

Fiksu, Inc. a company that makes sure leading brands boost their app ranking and secure large volumes of loyal users, has issued the results of a new study which says that new iPhone 4S owners have caused a surge in app downloads.

The metrics firm reported that the batch of new iPhone owners following the October 4 iPhone 4S launch, combined with iOS 5 app updates, “generated escalated app discovery activity and peak download volumes for the top 200 apps.”

Measuring the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps, the Fiksu App Store Competitive Index continued its upward trajectory initiated during October when the new Apple handset was launched, said the firm.

Marking a 15 percent increase over October's previous record high of 4.91 million daily download, the Index peaked at 5.65 million downloads per day in November, according to Fiksu.

Whereas in November 2010, app download volumes were 83 percent lower, “illustrating the enormous demand for and growth of mobile apps in just twelve months.”

Down just four cents to $1.43 from October's $1.47, the Fiksu Cost per Loyal User Index remained steady in November.

Commenting on their new findings, Micah Adler, Fiksu's CEO, remarked: "Unlike October's intermittent spikes in downloads and costs, November saw a steady increase in demand for app downloads without any notable fluctuations in mobile app marketing costs – even over Thanksgiving weekend."

"Signs indicate that app marketers have become savvier about planning and executing their ad spends during seasonal periods to avoid paying premium prices for acquiring users. In fact, November presented them with a somewhat unique opportunity to add more users at costs that were actually below October's," Adler added.

Fiksu says it has gathered its data from more than 7.6 billion mobile app actions. These included app launches, registrations and in-app purchases.

Also acting as a good indicator were the 156 million downloads recorded by apps marketed via the Fiksu for Mobile Apps user acquisition platform, according to the company.

Fiksu's full analysis can be found here.