tech

The Most Popular Mobile Apps

March 29, 2015 by Eyal Yechezkell

Mobile continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors in tech and these apps see some amazing usage and downloads. Here are the most popular mobile apps available.

Apple iTunes ~ 40 million unique users – Music

With Apple’s iPhone as the most popular phones it makes sense that a music app that comes pre-loaded would see some success.

Yahoo! Stocks ~ 42 million unique users – Finance

Yahoo! as a company has been focusing on mobile as a growth sector under CEO Marissa Meyer. Yahoo! Stocks app is a strong step in the right direction.

Instagram ~ 44 million unique users – Social

Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1 Billion is looking like great investment. Instagram continues to see growth rates usually reserved for new viral apps.

Gmail ~ 70 million unique users – Email

Gmail has won over its wide array of users through its simple to use interface. But they are not resting on their laurels. They are currently working through the kinks on their newest email app, Inbox.

Google Maps ~ 71 million unique users – Maps Service

Google has perfected the most useful, efficient and user-friendly maps app on desktop and mobile. Apple once tried to replace it with their maps app. It didn’t work out well.

Google Play ~ 79 million unique users – App Store

An app to download apps. Google Play is automatically added to every android phone and used to download whatever the heart desires.

Google Search ~ 80 million unique users – Search App

“Just Google It” This app does exactly that giving the user a way to quickly google something in their material design interface.

YouTube ~ 87 million unique users – Video App

Yes. The last five apps are Google properties. Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for 1.65 Billion dollars and though it has grown into the best place video social network and music video website and app it barely profits.

Facebook ~ 116 million unique users – Social Network

As big as it is it continues to see double digit growth in app users. It is by far the most used app on phones and tablets.

The True Tech Unicorns Have Valuations of $10 Billion

March 18, 2015 by Eyal Yechezkell

It is the age of the unicorn startup. As more and more startups choose to forego the IPO and seek private financing, the billion dollar startup may not be a unicorn anymore. These “startups”, as people still insist on calling them, are often much larger than many public tech companies.

Below is a list of the true unicorn tech companies worth over $10 Billion.

Xiaomi ~ $46 Billion

Primarily a smartphone company, Xiaomi employs roughly 5,000 people around the world and only released its first smartphone in 2011. Its rapid growth in China has helped make it the third largest smartphone maker in the world. It is currently the most valuable private tech company.

Uber ~ $40 Billion

Uber has a knack for making headlines. Just today they made headlines worldwide after Paris arrested Uber employees in their Paris office for operating an illegal taxi service. But despite headlines like these or perhaps because of them Uber has raised a war chest that has them at a $40 billion valuation.

Palantir ~ $15 Billion

A big data, software and services company that started by doing data analysis for American intelligence agencies. They have since expanded to providing services for the private sector. Their decision to say private is deliberate, stating that it would make running their company difficult.

FlipKart ~ $12 Billion

FlipKart exclusively operates in India for now but that hasn’t stopped it from growing into an e-commerce powerhouse focusing mostly on electronics. They’ve used their extensive funding for various acquisitions.

Pinterest ~ $11 Billion

Pinterest is the photo sharing and storage social network launched five years ago. Some are predicting their next step is to become a search engine and rival Google.

AirBnB ~ $10 Billion

AirBnB grew very quickly after taking part in the biggest tech accelerator, Y Combinator. The disruptive company allows users to rent out rooms or entire homes. It now operates in over 190 countries.

DropBox ~ $10 Billion

Another Y-Combinator startup, Dropbox has been able to keep strong market share despite tech giants like Google getting into the cloud storage business. Their competitor Box recently had their IPO and their stock has steadily declining since.

Snapchat ~10 Billion

The ephemeral messaging app turned teen social media powerhouse have been making headlines for its huge user engagement numbers and even bigger funding rounds from the likes of Prince Alwaleed and Alibaba

Facebook Mobile Ad-Revenue Is Growing Fast

January 21, 2015 by Eyal Yechezkell

Less than three years ago, in 2012, when Facebook was filing it’s IPO, mobile ad revenue accounted for very little of their total ad revenue. Many investors worried if they would be able to compete in the space. But, since that moment, the social network has seen explosive growth in mobile ad revenue.

The very next year in 2013, mobile ad revenue jumped to 45% of their total ad revenue. Research firm eMarketer released their predictions for where that trend will lead and they believe mobile will pay off huge for Facebook accounting for an estimated $13.6 billion and 75% of their ad revenue.

Many believe that mobile is in its infancy and much of these predictions are based on the idea that Facebook and its competitors in the mobile space will be able to charge much higher rates as consumers become more willing to buy on their phone. In addition, more people are becoming users of the Facebook mobile app, in United States and abroad.

Another reason for the expected growth is international adoption of the Facebook platform. India is a country of 1.2 billion people and as their economy grows more and more people will be using mobile technology to access the platform. There are already almost as many mobile Facebook users in India as in the United States. Brazil and Mexico are also emerging markets that Facebook is targeting.

Facebook has a distinct advantage over traditional display ads because the experience is the same across all devices and ads are native. They know this very well and is big reason why they are investing in technology that will bring internet to the poorest areas of the world.

Do you think Facebook will grow ass fast as predicted?