Sensor Tower report on 2020 mobile apps revenues and downloads reveal that Apple App Store grew by 30% Y-o-Y by generating $72.3 billion in spending via its digital market place. In 2019, the App Store generated $55.5 billion. Having said that, the previous year saw a global shift to remote learning and working due to COVID-19 pandemic which boosted the app store economy by 30% year-over-year from 2019.
Sensor Tower is an American organization that provides data on global mobile apps and publishers and market intelligence based on various metrics like revenue, downloads, and others by analyzing advertisement, usage, and app intelligence platforms. The report marks 2020 as a lucrative year for platform owners like Apple, Google, and Sony.
2020 was a record-setting year for both mobile games and non-game apps, and consumer spending on Apple’s App Store and Google Play soared to new heights as users turned to their mobile devices for education, employment, and entertainment. Consumers spent nearly $111 billion globally on in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium apps across both marketplaces, according to preliminary Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data. This figure represents 30.2 percent year-over-year growth from 2019 when app stores generated $85.2 billion.
Apple App Store spending saw a 30% year-over-year growth in 2020
The report states that globally Apple App Store spending was highest in comparison to Google Play in 2020.
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.
iOS apps spending in 2020
- Gaming apps- $47.6 billion with 25.3% Y/Y growth
- Entertainment- $5.3 billion with 29.3% Y/Y growth
- Non-game apps- $1.2 billion with more than 600% Y/Ygrowth
New games and non-games installs in 2020 also saw year-over-year growth than 2019 on App Store and Google Play.
First-time installs set a new record in 2020 as the App Store and Google Play collectively reached nearly 143 billion, up 23.7 percent from approximately 115.5 billion in 2019. This is around 14 percentage points higher than the Y/Y growth experienced by both stores in the previous year.
First-time installs of mobile games reached 56.2 billion in 2020 across both marketplaces collectively, surging nearly 33 percent Y/Y. Due to a spike in interest in the category, the Y/Y growth last year outpaced the previous year’s growth by 23 percentage points.
Apple App Store’s success makes it a lucrative marketplace for developers to be a part of. Recently, the company cut the App Store 30% commission rate by half for small business owners which might attract more developers with innovative ideas to its digital marketplace.
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