Mobile app sales exceed $ 100 billion in 2020

People around the world have spent more than $ 100 billion this year on mobile apps and games, reaching a new all-time high.

According to a report by Sensor Tower, consumers shell out about $ 407 million over Christmas alone for apps and games from Apple’s App Store and Google Play. That’s 35 percent more than the $ 303 million they spent during the same period in 2019. By comparison, spending in 2019 was up 17 percent from 2018.

Sensor Tower said mobile spending reached $ 9 billion during December, with mobile games being the most popular purchase. Game purchases soared 27 percent to $ 295.6 million at Christmas, from $ 232.4 million in 2019. Tencent’s Honor of Kings was the big winner, and gamers spent $ 10.7 million on the Chinese gaming platform over Christmas, 206 percent more than the same day in 2019.

Consumer spending on non-game apps soared 59 percent to $ 112 million by Christmas. Entertainment was the largest category, with app purchases increasing 22 percent to $ 19.3 million through Apple’s App Store. Entertainment purchases through Google Play increased 19 percent to $ 4.3 million, Sensor Tower said.

TikTok was another standout, with the popular Chinese entertainment app making $ 4.7 million over Christmas.

Sales through Apple’s App Store continued to outpace Google Play, and the App Store generated sales of $ 278.6 million over Christmas, compared to $ 129 million from Google Play.

Sensor Tower said US consumers generated the most mobile game sales this Christmas, with US sales increasing to $ 87.2 million, up 26% from last year. Sales of non-game applications soared 72 percent to $ 42.7 million.

Roblox was the top seller, Sensor Tower said, and sales of the popular gaming platform jumped 40 percent year-over-year to $ 6.6 million by Christmas. Roblox was followed by Disney +, whose sales increased 44 percent to $ 2.6 million.

Earlier this month, App Annie reported that worldwide spending on app stores soared this year, reaching $ 112 billion and growing 25 percent from last year.

Spending on Apple’s App Store and Google Play set a new record, App Annie said in the report, and despite 65 cents of every dollar going to iOS, Google Play spending will grow nearly 30 percent.

The main markets driving iOS growth are the US, Japan and the UK, a change from 2018 and 2019, when China was among the top markets for growth, according to the report. For Google Play, the top markets include the United States, South Korea, and Germany, a change from recent years, when the United Kingdom and Japan were among them, according to the App Annie report.

In a separate report, App Annie said that 2019 is on track for a 5 percent year-on-year increase in consumer app downloads across the Apple and Google ecosystem, translating to a record 120 billion euros. applications (the number does not include third-party Android applications).

“This is particularly impressive given that these are net new downloads and do not include app reinstalls or updates,” Adithya Venkatraman, manager of App Annie Market Insights, wrote in the report. “Consumer spending is projected to grow even faster, 15% year-over-year, and will approach $ 90 billion worldwide in 2019 (excluding third-party Android).”

The pandemic recorded an all-time high for mobile app usage, according to App Annie’s market data. Monthly time spent on apps increased 40 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, resulting in more than 200 billion hours logged on apps in April, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the Google Pay revamp that was launched last month (November 18) has catapulted the app to the top of the charts. The app quickly became number one in finance on Google Play, Apptopia reported. By December 9, it had shot up to number one overall and has stayed there ever since.