2017 Mobile Map App Research Report: Which is the best among Amap, Baidu and Tencent?

Author's opinion

As of December 2017, the user scale of the map service app industry reached 644 million
In the second half of 2017, Amap continued to lead in penetration rate
Amap’s DAU exceeded 40 million, and MAU reached 340 million in December
85.8% of map service app users only install one such app
Among Android phone users of map service apps, OPPO users account for 30%

1 Industry Development

Development trends of the map service industry in the second half of 2017

Several major map service providers, including AutoNavi, Baidu, Tencent, and Sogou, have optimized and upgraded their products.

Map service apps rank among the top 10 in terms of market penetration

Amap ranked 9th in market penetration in the 2017 app rankings

Amap ranked 9th among the top 10 apps with a market penetration rate of 38.9%. Other apps in the top 10 include WeChat and QQ for social networking, Taobao for e-commerce, and Alipay for mobile payment, indicating that map service apps have become a standard for mobile Internet users.

2 Operational data

User scale and penetration rate of map service app industry

In December 2017, the user scale of the map service app industry reached 644 million

The number of map service app industry users increased from 553 million in June last year to 644 million in December; the industry penetration rate increased from 61.5% in June last year to 63.2% in December.

Penetration rate of major map service apps

Amap continues to lead in penetration rate

The penetration rate of Amap has continued to rise since June, reaching 39.0% in December; Baidu Maps has slightly declined, with a penetration rate of 28.7% in December; Tencent Maps has increased, with a penetration rate of 0.7% in December.

Number of daily active users of map service apps

Amap’s DAU exceeds 40 million

Amap's DAU has been rising steadily since June, with a peak of over 44.77 million in December; Baidu Map's DAU reached a peak of 28.8 million in the second half of the year during the National Day holiday; Tencent Map's average DAU in the past seven months was 3.05 million

Number of monthly active users of map service apps

Amap's MAU has been rising steadily, reaching 340 million in December
Amap's MAU increased from 290 million in June to 340 million in December; Baidu Map's MAU reached about 230 million in December; Tencent Map's MAU was about 26 million in December.

Average number of new users per day for map service apps

In December, the average daily number of new users of Amap reached 4.19 million

The average daily number of new users of Amap fell in July, but then continued to rise, reaching 4.19 million in December; the average daily number of new users of Baidu Maps has been growing steadily in the past seven months, reaching 2.99 million in December; the average daily number of new users of Tencent Maps in December was 280,000

Average daily 30-day retention rate of new users of map service apps

The 30-day retention rate of Amap and Baidu Maps both exceeded 70%.
The 30-day retention rate of new users of Amap is 79.9% on average per day, while that of Baidu Map is 76.5%.

Number of map service app installations

3 User Profile

User gender and age distribution

Male users account for slightly more than female users; users aged 26 to 35 account for nearly 50%
Among map service app users, male users account for 52.4% and female users account for 47.6%.
Among map service app users, 49.2% are aged 26-35, and 34.4% are aged 16-25.

User geographical distribution

The proportion of map service app users in first- and second-tier cities is higher than the proportion of Internet users in first- and second-tier cities nationwide
In the provincial administrative region distribution of map service app users, Guangdong Province accounts for 10.9%, ranking first
In the distribution of map service app users by city, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou occupy the top four of the top 10 cities in terms of penetration rate, and Chengdu ranks fifth

App preference index of map service app users Meituan, Alipay and Sina Weibo are the three most preferred apps by map service app users
Among map service app users, the preference index for Meituan is 76.35, the preference index for Alipay is 75.28, and the preference index for Sina Weibo is 74.73

Android phone brand share

Among Android phone users of map service apps, OPPO users account for 30%
Among Android phone users of map service apps, OPPO phones account for 30.7%, Huawei phones account for 24.4%, and vivo phones account for 17.7%.