App Installs on iOS and Android : Cross Platform Spillover

There are two main platforms for mobile applications, Apple iOS and Android. Using data from 6 applications with hundreds of millions of users, we first show that the shocks that impact installs on one platform are correlated with the shocks on the other platform with an average correlation coefficient of 0.374. A simultaneous equations model to measure the impact of cross platform installs shows that Android adoption drives iOS adoption with average elasticity coefficient of 0.924. However, we find no evidence that iOS adoption has an impact on Android adoption. Several managerial implications for advertisers and application developers are discussed