According to new data from third-party app intelligence firms, Meta has had 2 million downloads of its mobile companion for the virtual reality headset, the Oculus app, since Christmas Day. The Quest 2 was a popular holiday gift after the Oculus app shot to the top of the Apple App Store for the first time ever on Christmas Day and became the most popular free app on the internet.
During the week of Christmas in the U.S. Sensor Tower says that the adoption of the app jumped up by over half a million installs.
The week before Christmas, the firm had installs of 345,000, but in the week that followed, they dropped to 345,000. Those who received a new device for the holidays, but hadn't gotten around to setting it up yet, are likely to be included in these downloads.
App intelligence firms estimate that the app has seen over 2 million installs from Christmas Day through the present across the App Store and Google Play.
Sensor Tower said the app saw around 1.8 million installs from December 31 to January 5, 2022. The app was downloaded 2.189 million times from Christmas to the present day. Around 80% of the installs were attributed to U.S. consumers.
The data shows a Christmas surge.
The holiday install figures are closer to the total number of yearly downloads the app had seen in the past.
In its first year on the market, the app saw 1.2 million downloads. The number of global consumers who installed the app increased in 2020. In the year 2021, the app had a jump in installs due to the fall 2020 launch of the Quest 2. The U.S. accounted for over 6 million installs.
Sensor Tower found that the app had been downloaded a little over 8 million times worldwide in the year 2021, not the 10 million it had been reported.
Both firms agree that in just a few days since Christmas, the app has gained somewhere in the vicinity of 2 million more downloads.
The most recent adoption figures for the new Quest 2 are from the company that powers the new virtual reality devices. Meta had shipped 10 million units of the second edition of the book.
These new downloads are not likely to be for discontinued products, but rather the Quest 2, which works with the company's legacy products. The company has over a full year under its belt as the flagship device, meaning it has a $299 entry-level price point. The recent install growth may be related to the fact that more consumers are interested in exploring virtual reality for the first time after seeing Facebook's plans for the Metaverse.
Although app downloads aren't usually a proxy for real-world adoption, they can help paint a picture of how many consumers have recently bought or were gifted a new device. The app allows consumers to download new virtual reality apps and games and find friends to connect with in virtual reality, so it is something most Quest 2 owners will choose to install.
The app has dropped in the US App Store rankings, which take into account both installs and downloads. It is a respectable 10 in the Entertainment category.
The app is seeing good engagement from its new users. The firm thinks the app has more users than before. The figure shows that users are still exploring the virtual reality world even after setting up the app.
