Apptopia: Musk's X app downloads hit a 10-year low, down nearly 30% in two months

According to reports, downloads of Musk's social app are at their lowest level in more than 10 years after he changed the name of Twitter to X, which sparked huge controversy. According to data from Apptopia, a performance tracking agency for apps, downloads of the app have dropped by nearly 30% since the beginning of July compared with the previous two months. On July 23, local time, Musk announced that he would change the name of Twitter to X.

Downloads of the app fell 18% compared with the same period last year, the month before Musk acquired Twitter.

This is the least interest in the app since it went public in 2013. Twitter has typically added 15 million to 30 million users per month since 2011, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Between August and September this year, the renamed X added just 10 million users.

Downloads of the app have fallen in nearly every country where Twitter is available, including some of the largest markets like the U.S., U.K. and Japan, according to Apptopia. Visits to the web version of Twitter have also been falling since the start of the year, with global traffic down 10% year-over-year in August, including a 15% drop in the U.S., according to an analysis by Similarweb.

The app's usage is also declining day-to-day and month-to-month, with millions fewer people opening the app regularly. So far in September, daily active users have fallen to 249 million, down about 2% from 253 million in July. Monthly active users have also fallen by the same amount, from 398 million in July to 393 million.

Musk has said he expects Twitter to reach 1 billion monthly users by 2024. To achieve that goal, he will have to find a way to nearly triple the number of monthly users in the coming months. Recently, the billionaire admitted that the entire company "may fail."

The apparent drop in downloads coincides with Musk's ongoing changes and politically charged use of the app, which has mostly seen Musk himself become a trending topic on X, making it more of a platform about its billionaire boss than a place to learn about daily events or broad public conversation.