Mobile app monetization - statistics & facts
Mobile apps have become a new long-term commodity as consumers are more open to paying for their services. In 2023, mobile apps generated over 171 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenues, with China and the United States ranking as the leading markets based on mobile apps' consumer spending. Subscriptions and in-app purchases have become a more common monetization method for publishers than paid downloads, while in-app advertising has suffered revenue losses from changing privacy settings in the app world. Apps offering subscriptions have thrived from this monetization model, as it helped them retain users and redirect spending to their platforms without sharing profits with the app store's distribution system.
The global growth trend in app spending between 2019 and 2021 was fueled by users' increased digital engagement, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, trends normalized, and worldwide consumer spending on mobile apps fell back to 167 billion U.S. dollars, recording a small decrease compared to the previous year.
The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store were the most common discovery hubs for mobile apps, according to almost half of global consumers. Word of mouth and advertising were less effective, as 35 percent of consumers and 25 percent of consumers reported discovering apps with these two methods, respectively.
As consumers learn the value their favorite apps can bring to their online experience, monetization will not be forced to rely mainly on advertisers. From fitness and sport, to streaming and content production or language learning, mobile apps have come to provide a valued service for users, making in-app purchases and subscriptions two of the most sought-after alternatives for app publishers to generate revenues.
User acquisition: usage drives consumer trends
Consumers keep their apps because they are convenient: for 27 percent of Gen Z users, apps simplify their lives, while for 28 percent of Gen X users, they help save time. Overall, ease of use was the most important feature that apps could display to improve their retention.The global growth trend in app spending between 2019 and 2021 was fueled by users' increased digital engagement, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, trends normalized, and worldwide consumer spending on mobile apps fell back to 167 billion U.S. dollars, recording a small decrease compared to the previous year.
The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store were the most common discovery hubs for mobile apps, according to almost half of global consumers. Word of mouth and advertising were less effective, as 35 percent of consumers and 25 percent of consumers reported discovering apps with these two methods, respectively.
Advertising leads mobile monetization practices
While subscriptions are increasingly becoming an option for app publishers, in-app ads are still the preferred monetization practice worldwide as well as in the U.S. market specifically. As of March 2024, one-third of global app publishers decided to include ads in their products, while in-app billing only interested less than one in 10 app developers. In 2023, advertising constituted the largest share of the app market revenues, with almost 307 billion U.S. dollars generated with this monetization method.As consumers learn the value their favorite apps can bring to their online experience, monetization will not be forced to rely mainly on advertisers. From fitness and sport, to streaming and content production or language learning, mobile apps have come to provide a valued service for users, making in-app purchases and subscriptions two of the most sought-after alternatives for app publishers to generate revenues.
