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Image Model Releases Propel AI Mobile App Downloads, Not Revenues

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A new report from Appfigures highlights a significant shift in the growth strategy for AI mobile apps, emphasizing the increasing impact of image model releases over traditional model updates. The report indicates that these releases now drive 6.5 times more downloads.

  • ChatGPT and Google Gemini have experienced substantial increases in downloads following the release of their respective image models. Google’s Gemini gained over 22 million downloads after introducing the Nano Banana image model, marking a 4x increase in downloads over 28 days since last August. Similarly, ChatGPT reported over 12 million downloads within 28 days of its GPT-4o image model release, a 4.5x surge compared to previous models.

  • Other AI models like Meta AI's Vibes and DeepSeek R1 have seen incremental gains, though on a smaller scale, with an estimated 2.6 million and 28 million downloads respectively. However, these spikes in download numbers are not translating to significant mobile revenue increases. For instance, Nano Banana only generated an estimated $181,000 in consumer spending post-release, in contrast to ChatGPT's $70 million.

  • An exception was DeepSeek, which experienced a breakout download boost driven by curiosity rather than image model capabilities. This highlights a trend where the release of new features may primarily drive user interest without guaranteed financial conversion.

Despite massive download growth, the report cautions that these gains do not directly equate to increased revenue, suggesting that while image model releases pique interest, they do not necessarily convert users into paying customers.