The State of the Mobile App Market: Trends & Predictions
By: Andrea Knezovic
Tags: Predictions, Mobile App Marketing, Mobile Games, Mobile Apps, Mobile App Market

What is the current state of the mobile app market? How will it evolve in the future?

In this article, we bring you answers to these burning questions.

You’ll learn what are the biggest mobile app market trends as well as mobile app downloads and revenue forecasts for the next four years.

Current State of the Mobile App Market

Data source: App Annie

Consumers Are Spending More Time on Mobile

Mobile devices have become our go-to for everything from entertainment to shopping. It is no surprise that the time spent on mobile is increasing year over year.

In 2019, users have spent 3 hours and 40 minutes per day on their mobile devices, which is 35% more than in 2017. The increase is the biggest in emerging markets like Indonesia, Brazil, and India.

More Mobile Shopping Than Ever Before

Shoppers turn to mobile not only for research and consideration but for purchase as well. Global shopping app downloads grew to 5.4 billion, which is an increase of 20% from 2018 to 2019.

Mobile shopping is becoming the norm — it’s convenient, simple, and time-saving.

Breakout Retail Apps of 2019

Mobile Devices are a Go-To for Entertainment

Mobile devices are set to replace our computer and TV screens as video streaming apps allow users to watch movies and TV shows on the go.

High-quality streaming and growth in user-generated content have made pocket entertainment the new trend, one that’s very likely to become the standard.

Breakout Video Streaming Apps of 2019

Social Apps Account for Half the Time Spent on Mobile Devices

If we look at global hours spent on mobile by category, 50% of it is spent on social apps. Even though this is a mature industry, people are still downloading social and communication apps (9.5 billion downloads just in 2019).

While social apps are the most popular with Gen Z, users from all generations are starting to use this type of apps more and more.

Social media has become the main source of information, entertainment, as well as communication. It’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, the social app market is getting even more interesting and innovative with new breakout apps like TikTok.

TikTok is Taking Over

In the beginning, most TikTok users were from China. However, that is rapidly changing as TikTok is becoming more and more popular worldwide.

In 2019, users have spent 68 billion hours on TikTok. We can expect that to increase significantly, considering TikTok emerged as the most downloaded app in Q1 2020.

Because of that, marketers are paying more attention to TikTok so we can also expect that TikTok advertising will bloom in the following months.

Breakout Social Apps of 2019

Mobile Gaming

Mobile games are continuing to dominate the mobile app market. Below, you can find out which mobile game genres are performing best when it comes to downloads and consumer spend.

Share of Global Downloads by Gaming Genres in 2019

Casual mobile game genres like arcade and puzzle got the most downloads in 2019, claiming 82% of global downloads share. Core games like action represent only 18% of the overall mobile game downloads.

Share of Global Time Spent by Gaming Genres in 2019

While core games represent just 18% of downloads, they’re leading the game when it comes to time spent in top games (55%). That’s because core games usually require longer sessions and more engagement, unlike casual games.

Share of Consumer Spend by Gaming Genres in 2019

Core games like RPG, strategy, and action games made up 76% of consumer spend.

While casino games represent only 1% of global time spent, they accounted for 6% of total consumer spend.

Breakout Games of 2019: Downloads

Above you can see breakout mobile games of 2019 by downloads.

Below are breakout games of 2019 by consumer spend.

Breakout Games of 2019: Consumer Spend

Now, let’s take a look at the top apps of 2019 by downloads, consumer spend, and active users.

Top Apps By Worldwide Monthly Active Users in 2019

Top Apps by Worldwide Downloads in 2019

Top Apps By Worldwide Consumer Spend in 2019

Read more about top mobile apps of 2019 and of the decade here.

Mobile App Market Forecast 2020–2024

Now, let’s look to the future and find out how the mobile app market will evolve in the coming years.

About the Data

All the data comes from SensorTower and consists of downloads, revenue, and consumer spend projections for the next four years. It also shows the top mobile app market trends.

The forecast was created by using the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform and is based on past trends and macroeconomic projections.

Worldwide Mobile App Revenue Forecast

Above, you can see a five-year gross revenue forecast for App Store and Google Play.

Combined user spending for Google Play and App Store is set to reach $102 billion in 2020 and $171 billion by 2024. More than half of the revenue comes from Apple’s App Store. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is +15%.

If we look at just the App Store revenue forecast, we can see that user spending in 2020 will increase by $12 billion from 2019 and reach $67 billion. By 2024, App Store user spending will go up to $115 billion. It’s growing at a CAGR of 15.8%.

Worldwide Google Play User spending in 2019 was $30 billion and it will reach $56 billion by 2024. The compound annual growth rate for Google Play is (CAGR) is +13.2%.

Worldwide Download Forecast

Just like consumer spending, downloads are also increasing year over year for both Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

In 2020, downloads are expected to reach 140 billion, 39 billion for the App Store and 101 billion for Google Play.

By 2024, there will be 184 billion downloads, 45 billion coming from the App Store and 139 billion from Google Play.

While Apple’s App Store beats Google Play when it comes to user spending, there are significantly more downloads coming from Google Play.

App Store Countries by Revenue

These are the top 10 countries by App Store consumer spending. As you can see above, top-ranking countries will stay pretty much the same through 2024.

China was, and will stay as the number 1 country when it comes to App Store Revenue, while the United States is a close second.

Google Play Countries by Revenue

Similarly, top countries by Google Play revenue are also not expected to change by 2024. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, and Great Britain will keep their rank in the following years.

What’s interesting is that Brazil is estimated to go up in rankings from 10th place in 2019 to 7th place by 2024.

App Store Downloads by Country

When it comes to App Store downloads by Country, we see a steady increase in downloads for the top 5 countries — United States, China, Japan, Great Britain, and Russia.

What’s interesting is that the impact of Covid-19 has resulted in a big spike in downloads. However, that’s expected to stabilize by 2021.

By 2024, the United States will reach almost 12 billion App Store downloads (+10% CAGR), while China is expected to reach almost 10 billion (+3% CAGR).

Google Play Downloads by Country

Similarly, Google Play downloads are also boosted by the impact of Covid-19.

India has the most Google Play downloads by far — going from 20 billion in 2019 to expected 33 billion by 2024. Indonesia is projected to surpass the United States in 2020 and get to almost 10 billion Google Play downloads by 2024.

App Store Revenue Share by Category

When it comes to App Store user spending, mobile games reign supreme. However, the App Store revenue share for mobile games is projected to decrease, going from 71% in 2018 to 49% by 2024.

That means that more than half of revenue in 2024 might come from non-gaming apps.

On the other hand, revenue from entertainment, photo & video, and social network apps is expected to grow significantly in the next 4 years.

Google Play Revenue Share by Category

Mobile gaming’s share of revenue on Google Play is also dropping year over year, from 87% in 2018 to projected 74% by 2024. However, games still take a significantly higher share than other app categories on Google Play as well as compared to the App Store.

Download Spike Following Covid-19

Mobile apps play an important role during the Covid-19 outbreak. As people are quarantined and practicing social distancing, mobile apps offer solutions for those who are adjusting to new way of life.

Video conferencing apps allowed businesses to adopt the practice of working from home and to stay connected during these hard times. Grocery delivery apps were the perfect solution for getting food while staying safe.

With more free time on their hands, users have also turned to mobile entertainment, particularly to mobile games.

That’s why app installs have spiked following the Covid-19 outbreak. Even though it is expected that installs will balance out by the end of 2020, there will still be a strong shift to mobile.

Considering that a lot of people have been introduced to new types of mobile apps and are relying on them more than ever, it is expected that app usage will keep increasing in the future.

To read more about how Covid-19 impacted the mobile gaming industry, check out our article on coronavirus and mobile gaming.

Final Thoughts on the State of Mobile App Market

When we look at mobile app market forecasts, it’s obvious that the future for this industry is bright. People are not going to stop using mobile apps anytime soon. In fact, mobile usage will only increase year over year.

What are your predictions for the future of the mobile app industry? Let me know in the comments below!

And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates on the mobile app market!

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About Udonis

Since 2018 till today, Udonis Inc. served over 17 billion ads & acquired over 75 million users for mobile apps & games. We’re recognized as a leading mobile marketing consulting agency by 5 major marketing review firms. We helped over 20 mobile apps & games reach the top charts. Want to know how we make it look so effortless? Meet us to find out.