App Store Spending Reached $72 Billion in 2020, Says Sensor Tower

[MacRumors]

Apple device users spent a record $72 billion on the App Store in 2020, a 30% increase on app spending the previous year, according to a new Sensor Tower report.

Globally, consumer spending on the App Store reached $72.3 billion, up 30.3 percent Y/Y from $55.5 billion in 2019. As in previous years, this exceeded the amount users spent on Google Play, which grew 30 percent Y/Y from $29.7 billion in 2019 to $38.6 billion. The App Store generated 87.3 percent more in consumer spending than the Play store, and both platforms experienced roughly the same Y/Y growth. The spending gap between the platforms remained relatively flat compared to 2019.

Apart from games, most user spending in the App Store focused on the Entertainment category, which grew 29.3% year on year to $5.3 billion. TikTok was the non-game app that generated the most revenue globally in the App Store in 2020, growing more than 600% year on year to $1.2 billion.

First-time installs also set a new record in 2020, with the App Store and Google Play collectively reaching nearly 143 billion, up 23.7% from approximately 115.5 billion in 2019. This figure is about 14% higher than the year-on-year growth experienced by both stores in the previous year.

The gaming category also reached new heights, generating $79.5 billion last year across both app stores globally. The report notes that this is up 26% from slightly more than $63 billion in 2019, and represents 71.7% of all in-app spending for the year.

According to Sensor Tower data, around $47.6 billion was spent on iOS games in 2020, up 25% in 2019. Games accounted for 66% of all App Store revenue, and the highest grossing game on iOS was Tencent's Honor of Kings.

The report notes that the mobile market experienced "unprecedented growth" in 2020 as the global health crisis dramatically shifted consumer needs and behavior, and could even indicate a permanent change in consumer habits.

Article Link: App Store Spending Reached $72 Billion in 2020, Says Sensor Tower

 

[kcslc]

Monopolies lead to record sales. Who knew?

 

[svanstrom]

And that's that on why Apple is the big bad guy as far as not making sure that websites/webapps can do things like background notifications on mobile devices.

I'm very much for the security that the AppStore provides, so no side-loading of native apps; buuut Apple really should get going with implementing things like notifications for web apps, and web bluetooth.

 

[steve09090]

Monopolies lead to record sales. Who knew?

Not sure that Apple having an App Store is bad for consumers. Choices...

 

[djcerla]

“We’ve reached peak app”

Walt Mossberg, 2016

 

[Shanghaichica]

And I’m guilty of spending between £60-100+ monthly on iTunes purchases and app subscriptions.

 

[apparatchik]

So, the spending per capita (device/user) should be around ten times higher for iOS users as Android sells around five times more units?

Though I guess Google Play not being present in the largest App market might also be a factor.

In any case as an iOS user I value the curated nature and higher standards of its App store, as its not as polluted with abandonware and unbaked replicas and copy cats, barely working half-dead proof of concepts, that stealthily creep upon you at Android’s store fronts.

 

[emmab2006]

Oh Yes I bet Apple are Trembling at Epic's great threat to the App Store....

 

[nikaru]

And I’m guilty of spending between £60-100+ monthly on iTunes purchases and app subscriptions.

I haven't spend a dollar on the App Store/iTunes in 10 years of usage. Plenty of free apps for everything I need and I also do listen to music on youtube/dailymotion and similar video services for free.

If you take the average wage in the UK, you are working one full day of each month for Apple and various other companies for paying subscriptions for electronic services, many of which have free alternatives (although less convenient ones). We are talking about two weeks of work (two weeks of your life) per year. Maybe not your case because you are earning a lot more, but still, your spending is what I see many people around me spend also and have always wonders if they make any calculation of annual basis to find what all these small subscriptions actually cost.

 

[iapplelove]

I have not purchased an app in years. What are you all spending your money on lol

 

[apparatchik]

I have not purchased an app in years. What are you all spending your money on lol

I think most of the spending these days are in-app subscriptions and game in-app content, not apps themselves which are mostly free.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Fancy website. Couldn't find an explanation of how they come up with their "data".

 

[Mr.PT]

I haven't spend a dollar on the App Store/iTunes in 10 years of usage. Plenty of free apps for everything I need and I also do listen to music on youtube/dailymotion and similar video services for free.

If you take the average wage in the UK, you are working one full day of each month for Apple and various other companies for paying subscriptions for electronic services, many of which have free alternatives (although less convenient ones). We are talking about two weeks of work (two weeks of your life) per year. Maybe not your case because you are earning a lot more, but still, your spending is what I see many people around me spend also and have always wonders if they make any calculation of annual basis to find what all these small subscriptions actually cost.

They don’t and that’s why it keeps growing.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I have not purchased an app in years. What are you all spending your money on lol

I don't purchase apps it's TV shows and movies and subscriptions like Apple One, pigment and some newspaper subscriptions.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I haven't spend a dollar on the App Store/iTunes in 10 years of usage. Plenty of free apps for everything I need and I also do listen to music on youtube/dailymotion and similar video services for free.

If you take the average wage in the UK, you are working one full day of each month for Apple and various other companies for paying subscriptions for electronic services, many of which have free alternatives (although less convenient ones). We are talking about two weeks of work (two weeks of your life) per year. Maybe not your case because you are earning a lot more, but still, your spending is what I see many people around me spend also and have always wonders if they make any calculation of annual basis to find what all these small subscriptions actually cost.

I agree on the cost being too much. This year I’m going to try and cut down how much I spend On iTunes.

 

[Mr.PT]

Oh Yes I bet Apple are Trembling at Epic's great threat to the App Store....

Well...according to article gaming “represents 71.7% of all in-app spending for the year.” and accounts for $47.6 billion in a $72.3 billion total revenue of the App Store. So in-app only, gaming purchases are almost equal to total revenue of App Store. Not counting off-app (consoles) sales.
So the gaming industry is going strong and the epic lawsuit seems to me, small pixels in a bigger picture that may be to unfold...

 

[nikaru]

Well...according to article gaming “represents 71.7% of all in-app spending for the year.” and accounts for $47.6 billion in a $72.3 billion total revenue of the App Store. So in-app only, gaming purchases are almost equal to total revenue of App Store. Not counting off-app (consoles) sales.
So the gaming industry is going strong and the epic lawsuit seems to me, small pixels in a bigger picture that may be to unfold...

Kids buying virtual coins, gems, passes, etc. with the credit cards of their parents... I can imagine an emotionally stable and rational adult buying games and making in-app purchases on his phone. Are these games so addictive? I have tried a few of them and it is true that you usually reach a point where you need to pay to achieve any meaningful progress, but then it is when I delete the game, and look for another entertainment.

 

[4487549]

IAPple

 

[I7guy]

I haven't spend a dollar on the App Store/iTunes in 10 years of usage. Plenty of free apps for everything I need and I also do listen to music on youtube/dailymotion and similar video services for free.

If you take the average wage in the UK, you are working one full day of each month for Apple and various other companies for paying subscriptions for electronic services, many of which have free alternatives (although less convenient ones). We are talking about two weeks of work (two weeks of your life) per year. Maybe not your case because you are earning a lot more, but still, your spending is what I see many people around me spend also and have always wonders if they make any calculation of annual basis to find what all these small subscriptions actually cost.

Free comes at price.

 

[shenfrey]

I haven't spend a dollar on the App Store/iTunes in 10 years of usage. Plenty of free apps for everything I need and I also do listen to music on youtube/dailymotion and similar video services for free.

If you take the average wage in the UK, you are working one full day of each month for Apple and various other companies for paying subscriptions for electronic services, many of which have free alternatives (although less convenient ones). We are talking about two weeks of work (two weeks of your life) per year. Maybe not your case because you are earning a lot more, but still, your spending is what I see many people around me spend also and have always wonders if they make any calculation of annual basis to find what all these small subscriptions actually cost.

There is a lot of great stuff you're missing. You're going to say you can get all you need for free, that's great, but there is still a lot of great stuff you're missing.

 

[Mr.PT]

Kids buying virtual coins, gems, passes, etc. with the credit cards of their parents... I can imagine an emotionally stable and rational adult buying games and making in-app purchases on his phone. Are these games so addictive? I have tried a few of them and it is true that you usually reach a point where you need to pay to achieve any meaningful progress, but then it is when I delete the game, and look for another entertainment.

I don’t do gaming, I find it uninteresting, so can’t give a personal view on addictive degree of games, though it’s a well known problem in traditional gambling and the article numbers seem to prove that. Bear in mind that even social media apps are design to guide you towards spending, that’s why parental controls and blocking are so important. Unfortunately most people don’t bother to set it up and regularly check them.