Spending on apps smashes all-time records in 2021 | WARC | The Feed

Spending on apps smashes all-time records in 2021

Consumer spending on apps in the first half of this year reached a record $64.9 billion, that’s up almost 25% year-on-year, according to early data released by Sensor Tower.

The numbers – which relate to worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps across the App Store and Google Play – are reinforced by similar data from App Annie, which says the global app market set an all-time quarterly spend record in Q2 at $34 billion, beating the previous record, set in Q1, of $32 billion. 

Growth is slowing

• The rate of growth this year is slower than in 2020, the data shows – in H1 last year, boosted by the pandemic and lockdowns, consumer spending was up by 28.4% compared to the same period in 2019.
• Following a huge surge in app downloads in 2020, app install growth slowed in H1 2021, up just 1.7% year on year. That compares with the explosive growth of almost 26% in H1 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.

Gaming is king

• Mobile gaming continues to make up the lion’s share of spending, reaching $44.7 billion in H1, says Sensor Tower. Outside of games, app-spending was driven by sports, finance, business, books and entertainment.
• TikToktopped the revenue charts last year, says Sensor Tower. Consumers are thought to have spent more than $920 million in TikTok during the first half of this year, a rise of 74% compared to the same period last year.
• YouTube keeps its place as the second highest grossing non-game app, with an estimated spend of $564.7 million. Tinder is third with estimated revenue of $520.3 million.

Sourced from Sensor Tower, App Annie