The Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, which measures the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps, followed an increase in downloads during January. The decrease in February downloads came after huge spikes in downloads during the holiday season.

“On the heels of a record-shattering holiday season, February presented a more consistent ‘normalized’ and valuable landscape for mobile app marketers,” stated Micah Adler, CEO, Fiksu. “In the absence of major events or device launches during the month, the February Indexes provide early indication of what we can expect the ‘new normal’ to be for marketers this year.”

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The Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, which measures the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps, followed a 16 percent increase in downloads during the month of December. The increase in January downloads was driven by new devices activated around the holidays.

“The January Fiksu Indexes are early indicators of the ‘mainstreaming of mobile advertising’ with marketers placing a focus on value over volume as they strategically plan for the year ahead – spreading their budgets out to maximize impact,” explained Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu in a press release. “We expect brands to allocate more dedicated spending to mobile advertising campaigns in 2013 and to only get savvier about aligning seasonal spending to the ebbs and flows of user acquisition costs.”

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The Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, which measures the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps, followed a drop in downloads last month. The increase in December downloads was driven by new devices given around the holidays, but it wasn’t as huge a lift as last December.

“Mobile app marketers are a year older and wiser, and we saw this reflected in the DecemberFiksu Indexes. Unlike the spending frenzy we saw in 2011, many opted for a value-versus-volume approach in 2012, collectively applying a more conservative, sophisticated strategy to their Q4 campaigns and largely avoiding big gambles on a long App Store freeze,” explained Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu in a statement. “As a result, marketing dollars were spread to the long tail of apps outside the top 200, and the peaks in volume and cost per loyal user, while still significant, weren’t as extreme as they were in 2011.”

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According to the report, the cost to acquire a loyal app user dropped by 16 percent in September. The Fiksu Cost per Loyal User Index was $1.13 in September, down 21 cents or 16 percent, from August’s $1.34.

“A new device launch always presents an opportunity to cost-effectively acquire and engage new loyal users – and marketers are starting to anticipate this,” said Micah Adler, CEO, Fiksu in a statement.

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