Poor connectivity damages the mobile app business

With new extended reality (XR) and augmented reality offerings imminent — most likely from Apple and Meta — that need fast low latency connections to connect to cloud services, good quality connectivity is becoming even more important, on Wi-Fi as well as with mobile. 

With poor mobile connectivity, users spend 20% less time in each app session while with poor Wi-Fi it’s an even greater 38% less time. After seven days, app retention rates are 49% lower for users that have seen consistently poor connectivity. Poor connectivity is commonplace. Opensignal data demonstrates that in 29% of mobile app sessions users experienced a poor signal. With Wi-Fi, 11% of app sessions had a poor signal.

Poor connectivity directly affects app revenues as well as increasing user dissatisfaction. Almost all apps are monetized either through in-app purchases or advertising. Both business models require people to continue using the app. Data.ai (formerly App Annie) reports 2022 total global app revenues were $336bn for advertising and $167bn for app store spend, of which almost all was either in-app purchases or paid subscriptions. Read the full analysis here

5G beats Public Wifi for gaming as well as speed

For a long time, users have assumed that Wifi always offers a superior experience to cellular connectivity, when using the Internet on mobile devices, either at home or in public places. Improvements to mobile technology with the evolution to 5G mean that this is no longer the case. Read the full analysis here.

The Smartphone Experience Shift from 4G to 5G

Analysis of how Apple’s latest lower cost iPhone, the 2022 iPhone SE, compares with other iPhone models and rival smartphone makers in 5G experience. Notably, Apple prioritized including 5G and the modern A15 chipset over other potential enhancements such as adding Face ID or multiple rear cameras. Apple is not alone with this shift to 5G, other smartphone makers are now increasingly including 5G in mid-range and even in some entry level smartphone models. Read the full analysis here.

5G Impact on the Global Mobile Network Experience

Understanding the extent to which 5G has altered the experience of users in the three years since 5G first launched. Data and insight on 100 countries, examining the influence on both those markets that have launched 5G, and those where 5G’s influence has been felt ahead of 5G’s availability. Read the full analysis here.

The European smartphone speed race: How Apple, OnePlus, Oppo, Samsung and Xiaomi compare

The overall speed experienced by 5G smartphones differs greatly by smartphone brand. However, across all brands we see that the overall speed for 5G devices is significantly higher compared with 4G smartphone models of the same brand. This increase highlights the importance of 5G technology to accelerate the mobile experience.

It’s notable that Samsung sees a much smaller speed uplift for its 5G smartphones than other brands, ranging from 1.4 times faster for Samsung’s 5G models over its 4G models in Italy and Germany, to 1.6 times faster in the UK. The uplift in download speed we see for 5G smartphone models over 4G smartphone models is greatest for iPhone devices.

Read the full analysis here

The 5G iPhone: Lessons from existing 5G smartphones

Looking ahead to the unveiling of the first 5G iPhone models, I analyzed the experience of current 4G iPhone models and compared it with 5G phones from other brands to understand the potential for 5G to lift improve Apple users’ mobile experience. Read the full analysis.

Why Rakuten’s mobile experience is set to challenge Japan and the world

There is enormous hype around Rakuten’s mobile network They are a new challenger operator in Japan that made the switch from MVNO to running their own network in April 2020. They are evangelizing the use of OpenRAN, virtualization, and a network built through smaller and/or less conventional telecom vendors. And, they are aiming to sell their network design and integration approach to other operators around the world. Here, we analyzed users’ experience soon after Rakuten’s 4G network launch to see if the execution matches the vision. Read the full analysis.