Consumer demand for mobile AI chatbot apps outside of ChatGPT may be waning. Earlier this month, Anthropic released its first iOS mobile app, providing access to the Claude 3 model for both free and paid users. Although the app offers the same functionality as its web version, including history sync and photo upload capabilities, it only garnered 157,000 total global downloads in its first week on the market. Compare that to ChatGPT, which had 480,000 installs in its first five days of launch in the US, when its app was also iOS-only.
Unlike ChatGPT, Claude did not become a new hit on the App Store. While the application of ChatGPT soared topping the App Store, becoming one of the top-performing new releases of 2023 (and the year before!), Claude’s reception has so far been much more lukewarm.
According to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, Claude’s highest ranking among Apple’s top free iPhone apps in the US was No. 55 on May 4, just days after it debuted on the first of the month. As of Friday, the app no longer ranks among the top free iPhone apps in the US. Instead, it’s now ranked No. 51 in the top free productivity apps in the US, up from No. 5 in that category, which was also achieved on May 4.
For comparison, Claude earned a No. 50 spot on the Productivity chart seven days after its release. But seven days after ChatGPT launched, it was already No. 3 overall, as well as the No. 1 Productivity app.
Driving Claude downloads are three key markets: the US, with a 50% share of Claude installations, followed by Japan and the UK, with 11% and 8%, respectively. However, data shows that interest in the new AI app dropped sharply after Claude’s arrival, as downloads quickly dropped from five digits to four digits within a week of launch. The downside suggests that there may not be the same level of consumer demand or brand recognition around this ChatGPT rival.
To be fair, ChatGPT was released at a time when the market was primed for an official AI companion.
Prior to its arrival, other third-party apps had capitalized on the growing consumer interest in AI tools by branding themselves as “ChatGPT” or “AI chatbot” to trick users into thinking it was an official OpenAI product. While most of these apps were essentially fleeceware with expensive subscriptions to access their AI, the top apps still managed to pull in millions of consumer spend before ChatGPT debuted on the App Store. Having the apps also helped give ChatGPT brand name recognition — something Anthropic’s Claude lacks.
Claude also suffers from more AI competition than ChatGPT did when it first launched on iOS. Since then, Google has integrated AI across its suite of products, including Assistant and iOS search application. He rebranded and upgraded his AI chatbot Bard to Gemini. Meanwhile, aggregators like Quora’s Poe allow AI enthusiasts to play with ChatGPT, Claude, and a host of other AI models in one place.
