iPhone 4S Contributes To Growth In App Downloads

The iPhone 4S has had a significant impact on the number of iPhone app downloads according to marketing technology company Fiksu. The firm's App Store Competitive Index measures the volume of downloads per day for the top 200 ranked free iPhone apps in the U.S. In November, this index reached an all-time high by reaching 5.65 million downloads per day. November's high index numbers beat October's previous record high of 4.91 million daily downloads. November's index numbers also represent the first time the index has surpassed five million.

Given the widespread success Apple has enjoyed with the iPhone 4S as well as the number of iPhones and other mobile phones activated as a result of the holidays, it should be no surprise that apps—especially free apps—are also enjoying great success. However, the magnitude of this success is remarkable if you think about the sheer quantity of apps downloaded in a relatively short amount of time.

Fiksu's App Store Competitive Index

Fiksu also gives some of the credit to the spike in app downloads to the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 5. As a result of the new OS release, many developers pushed a number of new updates for their apps to add functionality such as iCloud support. With these updates also came an increase in popularity and a revival in downloads.