This was first published on August 22 in our weekly newsletter, Apptopia Insight. To receive insights like this weekly, sign up here.

  • Peloton (PTON) app downloads were +81% YoY in June and +137% YoY in July, following the launch of new fitness content, lower cost/ free membership tiers, and integration with third-party bikes.
  • New installs are most likely existing customers wanting to access new content and freemium users; despite this, monthly in-app purchase revenue remains above its previous May 2021 record.
  • As Peloton looks to upsell to a strong pipeline, Lululemon (LULU) launched a competitive app, Lululemon Studio, at the end of June, which has a compound weekly growth rate of 34% over 8 weeks.

As Peloton (PTON) has pursued a pivot from hardware to a fitness-as-a-service strategy, mobile app data has become even more telling of customer activity –  and the company’s progress toward this goal.

Between May and July, Peloton made the following changes : Added Row and strength training content; launched membership tiers for content access via app (Peloton App Free, Peloton App One ($12.99 USD) and Peloton App+ ($24 USD)); and allowed third-party bikes to plug into Peloton content.

Peloton’s moves are having a significant impact on mobile activity. Downloads skyrocketed +81% YoY in June after new content and membership tiers and +137% in July after third-party bike integration. Not only is Peloton executing on the strategy it has been talking about to shareholders, but the user acquisition in June and July indicates that the company is right about betting on its content. 

A Correlation Coefficient of >.8 has existed between Apptopia Downloads Estimates and PTON’s Connected Fitness Product Revenue; however, the recent expansion of Peloton’s TAM impact the traditional value of a new install. So while in this quarter we see an increase in mobile activity, many of these new users will be digital-only or third-party bike users that will not lead to Connected Fitness Product Revenue.

In November, Peloton reported earnings for the third quarter, showing significant churn of its new free users:

Peloton New User Churn Analysis