AI codegen doubled new apps, but downloads are flat — the App-Slop era
a16z · x · 2026-09-19
a16z's weekly charts flag two trends:
- Unicorns minted earlier: the median new unicorn is just over 4 years old, down 37% since 2023; the overall median unicorn is 15.
- App supply explodes, demand stalls: AI code gen has made everyone a vibecoder and app publisher — new apps per month have doubled to quadrupled across iOS, Android and Chrome — yet downloads (ratings for iOS) are basically flat, and the share of apps showing any escape velocity (10+ ratings, 100+ downloads) has plummeted.
The verdict: it's App-Slop for now — AI has produced far more apps, but almost none are meaningfully successful; building winning software has always been more than generating code.
Related event: a16z: AI Code Generation Floods App Stores, Downloads Flat(4 posts)→
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