Elon Musk’s sudden rebranding of Twitter as X got much attention and led to some exciting results. A study shows that the number of downloads of X went down after it changed its name.
Sensor Tower, a company that analyzes apps, found a complicated situation involving user interaction, income, and how X, which used to be Twitter, works.
Read also: Musk admits X ‘may fail’ after malfunction deletes Twitter pics
Changes in user engagement and download
With all the drama surrounding X’s renaming, downloads may drop significantly. This seemed to be true because a Thread post by Eric Seufert showed that since the app was renamed to X, its place in the Top Downloaded chart on both platforms had dropped sharply.
Also, X’s app fell from third to 36th place in the overall category rankings, which shows how complicated the rebranding reaction was. This could also have been caused by the Threads app on Instagram.
Also, Sensor Tower’s study of the time after the rebranding, from August 6 to August 20, shows that the number of weekly active users dropped by 4%.
But the site did not die because of the drop. Even though people were worried that the X rebranding would hurt the brand’s value, sales went up by about 25% from August 6 to August 20, mainly because iOS sales went up by 24%.
This unexpected rise in sales goes against the idea that brand value is decreasing. It shows that X was able to keep or maybe even get more of its core users.
Consumer Behaviour and Confusion
After the rebranding process and the name change, the changes were noticeable, and the number of users for the new Twitter/X app went down.
However, it caused a significant rise in the number of people installing Twitter Lite during the first week after the change. The study showed that the number of installations of Twitter Lite increased by 350% in the first week after Twitter changed its name.
Installs for Twitter/X went down on both iOS and Android by 22% and 18%, respectively. The Twitter community of apps grew by 11% due to this increase in Twitter Lite and X downloads.
How it affects competitors and the app ecosystem
The study says that the rebranding of X affected competitors and platforms that are similar to it. X had a significant effect on Instagram threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
Threads’ downloads dropped by 70% in the first week after it changed its name, while Bluesky and Mastodon saw the opposite.
Bluesky said that the number of downloads went up by 180%, which shows that users are moving away from the newly renamed X. Mastodon’s slight 15% increase showed the same trend but on a smaller scale.
This comeback happened at the same time that new features, like a chronological list, were added. On the other hand, Bluesky and Mastodon had fewer downloads, which shows how user tastes change over time.
In conclusion, the resonance of the name “Twitter” continues to be strong within the app store landscape despite the confusion the rebranding has caused among consumers.
The number of people downloading Twitter Lite increased by 50% compared to the previous period.
This shows that it can keep people from installing the newly renamed X, which shows how strong the Twitter brand is.
