Threads alert to Elon Musk stays but the downloads are falling steeply

Indian users of the new rival to Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads, comprise the largest  chunk (32 per cent) of the total global downloads of the new app, according to the latest data from data.ai (earlier known as App Annie).

Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk is currently facing a huge challenge from Threads which was launched by Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, on 6 July in India to take on Twitter, which has been floundering ever since Musk bought it for $44 billion last October.  The Indian download percentage of 32 per cent is way ahead of the number two country Brazil with 22 per cent, the US with 16 per cent, Mexico with 8 per cent, and Japan with 5 per cent. The estimates are from data.ai based on 12  July numbers.

As of 10 July, there were 100 million downloads of Threads according to Meta but data.ai says  it hit over 150 million by 12 July across all platforms.
 

Musk can seek some solace in the fact that Threads’ ranking in the pecking order of the list of most downloaded apps in India across genres has fallen steeply.
 

Again, based on data.ai figures between 7-15 July, Threads was top of the charts for the most downloaded app in the country,  both in the category of free apps as well as new apps across all categories on Google Play.
 

Yet from 16 July, Threads started slipping and its ranking fell to number four. By 10 July, it dropped to number 25. By 22 July, it fell even more steeply to number 34 in the rankings. However, it has maintained its number 1 slot among new apps till today. While Threads has been the fastest app ever to hit 150 million in just six days globally (the earlier record was Pokemon GO in 33 days), the initial spike in euphoria seems to be fading and usage has fallen sharply.
 

In India, though it is going strong with about 48 million downloads till 12 July, giving Threads nearly double the customer base of Twitter which has an estimated 25 million active users.
 

Data.ai says India is the second largest market for Twitter in terms of lifetime downloads and monthly active users.  

Meta is helped by the fact that it owns Instagram.  Instagram account holders can easily create a Threads profile and use the same password. There are over 229 million Instagram users as of January 2023. This means a large customer base that can try out the new app. In addition, WhatsApp (also owned by Meta) has  487.5 million active users who can also be leveraged to popularise Threads.
 

Global reports suggest that user engagement on Threads has seen a fall after the initial few days. This has led many analysts to suggest that it should have more features if it wants to take on the established Twitter.
 

Meta has said it is developing more features which will be available soon such as support for multiple accounts, enabling consumers to edit their posts, and having the feed shown chronologically.