Average mobile app user acquisition costs 2018-2019, by user action and OS
As of August 2019, the average cost to acquire an app user who registered with an app or created an account was 3.52 U.S. dollars. Mobile app user acquisition costs can vary widely between user action and operating system used. Compared to the relatively low acquisition costs of a user registration, the user action that had the highest average acquisition cost for both operating systems, Android and iOS, was making an in-app purchase. For Android this cost was 77.45 U.S. dollars, and for iOS it was 86.72 U.S. dollars.
Mobile app user acquisition
There are various steps in the mobile app user funnel, starting from app installation over registration, in-app purchases, outright app purchases or even recurring subscriptions. Each step of the funnel requires action from app publishers and marketers to keep the mobile app users engaged and to convert them to the next stage of journey. User acquisition costs do not only vary by user action and OS, but also by region. The average cost to acquire an app user who registered with an app or created an account was 2.79 U.S. dollars in the Asian Pacific region, and 0.98 U.S. dollars across Latin America. Overall, mobile app users in North America were most expensive to acquire across all stages of the funnel except for the final step: subscription. According to industry metrics, APAC mobile users were most expensive to convert to a subscription with an acquisition cost of 53.01 U.S. dollars, compared to 35.42 U.S. dollars for users from the EMEA region.
Mobile app spend
Once acquired, consumers are often more than willing to spend money on mobile apps. In 2018, combined user spending in the App Store and Google Play reached 72 billion U.S. dollars and is projected to increase to 156 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Overall, the Apple App Store has and is still expected to generate more revenue than Google Play.
Mobile app user acquisition
There are various steps in the mobile app user funnel, starting from app installation over registration, in-app purchases, outright app purchases or even recurring subscriptions. Each step of the funnel requires action from app publishers and marketers to keep the mobile app users engaged and to convert them to the next stage of journey. User acquisition costs do not only vary by user action and OS, but also by region. The average cost to acquire an app user who registered with an app or created an account was 2.79 U.S. dollars in the Asian Pacific region, and 0.98 U.S. dollars across Latin America. Overall, mobile app users in North America were most expensive to acquire across all stages of the funnel except for the final step: subscription. According to industry metrics, APAC mobile users were most expensive to convert to a subscription with an acquisition cost of 53.01 U.S. dollars, compared to 35.42 U.S. dollars for users from the EMEA region.
Mobile app spend
Once acquired, consumers are often more than willing to spend money on mobile apps. In 2018, combined user spending in the App Store and Google Play reached 72 billion U.S. dollars and is projected to increase to 156 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. Overall, the Apple App Store has and is still expected to generate more revenue than Google Play.
