Mobile App Spending Is on the Rise

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 - 15:17 by Paul Tissington

Consumers around the world are investing more of their cash in mobile apps, whether to carry out safe shopping online through retail software or to invest in digital content to keep themselves entertained on the move.

This is according to a new study from App Annie which found that in the past three months the amount spent via Apple’s iOS-powered range of devices was up by a fifth year on year, generating $17 billion (£13.5 billion).

Google also saw a significant uptick in app-based spending, with its Play store enjoying an impressive 25 per cent rise in revenues to $10 billion (£7.9 billion).

While apps oriented around gaming are still the most lucrative part of this marketplace, the report revealed that a little over a third of all apps used in the second quarter of 2020 were classifiable as non-gaming, at least on iOS. This was a much smaller 15 per cent slice on Google Play, which shows that there is definitely a distinction between how the platforms are used and the kinds of audiences that are attracted by them.

In terms of the most popular apps downloaded in the UK, Amazon managed to make it into the top 10, alongside a bevy of social media services. Meanwhile, the Amazon Music app, which lets people buy and stream tunes to their phones, was the fifth most lucrative in pure terms of revenue.

Amazon also managed to wangle its way into the top five in terms of how active the users of its shopping app are, eclipsing services like Netflix, Twitter and even Snapchat in this respect. Also accompanying it in this list was eBay, which continues to demonstrate that consumer retail opportunities are rife in the world of mobile apps at the moment.