Short drama streaming apps, which do exactly what it sounds like, became the hottest trend in the App Store and on Google Play in late 2023. Lots of them sprouted in what felt like an overnight takeover earning enough downloads to creep up the top app charts for both downloads and revenue.
We published a report on short drama apps last month in case you're curious about the numbers - they're huge - $65M in gross revenue in March, up more than 10,000% year over year!
What goes up must come down, and short drama apps are not immune...
According to our estimates, the most popular app in the group, ReelShort, has seen downloads drop more than 80% since its peak back in November. Our estimates show 285K weekly downloads in the first week of May, down from 1.6M in early November.
In May, downloads from ReelShort's biggest contributor of downloads, the US, dropped by nearly a half, from 825K in April to 476K in May. India, Mexico, and the Philippines were on a similar trend but with even more shocking drops.
Our estimates show downloads in India dropped 95%, 78% in Mexico, and 40% in the Philippines.
Ouch!
Revenue wasn't immune to this trend either. Our App Intelligence is showing it stopped growing after peaking in April and has dropped nearly 27% since.
I was surprised to see this trend grow but am not surprised to see it decline. Having looked at the catalogs of the popular apps and the content they serve, I just don't see how it can compete with other streamers. It was fun while it lasted, I guess.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.