Hey Snackers,
Welcome to Day 3 of Snacks Digested — to tide you over between Christmas and New Year's, we're serving up some of the biggest business trends of 2020. Yesterday, we covered "The Rise of the Underdogs." Today we're hitting the tappiest trend on earth.
Stocks dipped yesterday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the effort to quickly increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2K.
The Great App-scape: when life became a screen
Life could be a dream... but it's actually a tiny screen. To curb the spread of Covid, we stayed home. To curb our homebound isolation and boredom, we spent more time on apps than ever before. Mobile app usage soared 25% from July to September compared to last year. We escaped the anxiety-inducing "real world" of 2020 by living through screens — AKA: The Great App-scape.
From streaming games to Tinder games... our screens entertained us.
- Disney+ gained nearly 74M subscribers in a year, and became the #3 free iPhone app of the year as you streamed "Hamilton" from the tub.
- Epic Games notched a $17B valuation thanks to your Fortnite addiction. Meanwhile, Among Us reportedly hit ~500M players in November — a mobile game record.
From post to post... our social lives rested in the palms of our hands.
- TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2020 (and the fastest-growing) — not to mention all the copycats, from Instagram Reels, to Snap's Spotlight. Speaking of...
- Snap's daily users grew 18% to 249M, while the stock has nearly tripled in value this year.
- Match watched it shares soar to all-time highs as you spent romantic evenings through on Tinder and Hinge (#loveatfirstswipe).
Apps became way more than an escape... they became central to our lives, from managing our money, to managing our mental health, to feeding ourselves.
- Finance: Out of all categories, finance apps had the fastest growing usage compared to pre-pandemic levels: From Robinhood to TD Ameritrade, investing apps saw record growth as millions of people started participating in the markets.
- Relaxation: Calm hit a $2B valuation as meditation apps provided some peace of mind in a zero-chill era and became go-to company perks.
- Shopping: From Amazon toilet paper rolls to DoorDash burrito bowls, our apps became our shopping carts.
The app life isn't going anywhere... When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, we didn't understand the massive potential behind those little square icons called "apps." Then the App Store launched in 2008... and the rest is history. The pandemic made us more app-attached than ever. While we might spend less time glued to our phones as things "normalize," 2020 made one thing clear: our mobile app-dependence is here to stay.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Takeoff: Boeing 737 Max passenger flights resume in the US after a nearly two-year ban on the jets. American is the first to fly them since the grounding.
- Stimulate: Find out if you qualify for a second stimulus check (and when you might actually see the money).
- Delhitful: Tesla will reportedly start selling its electric cars in India next year, according to India's transport minister.
- Learn: What can I invest in? An overview of assets, from ETFs, to bonds, and real estate.
🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up here.
Wednesday
- Chicago PMI
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Disney, Snap, Tesla, and Amazon — Also, Robinhood Snacks is owned by... Robinhood.
ID: 1462842