Spending trends in mobile apps

Mobile consumers are expected to spend a staggering $34.1 billion on app stores in the first quarter of 2023, the highest quarterly spending figure ever. Earlier, Data.ai's Q3 2022 Market Pulse report saw a slight decline in consumer spending year-over-year, falling from $33.7 billion in Q3 2021 to $32.4 billion. Now, iOS seems to be recovering by 5% compared to last year, earning $21.8 billion, while Google Play jumped 7%, earning about $12.3 billion.

When it comes to app store spending, iOS users are still far ahead of their Android counterparts. iOS accounts for 65% of total app store spending, rising to 71% in the non-gaming sector, fueled by growing demand for in-app subscriptions and popular apps like Calm. Among Google Play users, the largest consumer spending categories were Games, Entertainment, and Social. Meanwhile, Video Players & Editors, Home & Living, and Health & Fitness recorded the strongest quarter-over-quarter growth, with increases of 21%, 21%, and 20%, respectively. Regionally, the United States, Japan, and South Korea were the largest contributors to consumer spending in the app market. In the first quarter of 2023, consumers downloaded 38.4 billion apps, second only to the third quarter of 2022 (38.7 billion). iOS recorded the biggest surge, with an estimated 12% year-over-year increase in installations to approximately 9.2 billion. Google Play installations were up 1% year-over-year to 29.2 billion.

India and Brazil were the largest markets by number of downloads, while Turkey, Russia, and Iraq saw significant growth for Google Play. For iOS, China and the US were the leading markets, with the US, Brazil, and Japan experiencing the largest quarterly growth. The most downloaded categories on iOS in the first quarter of 2023 were Games, Utilities, and Photos & Videos. Meanwhile, Games, Health & Fitness, and Travel had the largest absolute download growth quarter-over-quarter. The categories with the highest percentage growth quarter-over-quarter were Health & Fitness, Navigation, and Directories, with growth of 17%, 15%, and 12%, respectively. In the first quarter of 2023, Google Play users downloaded many apps for games, tools, and entertainment. However, the categories with the highest absolute growth were Productivity, Books & Reference, and Education, which saw quarterly growth of 12%, 10%, and 9%, respectively. Unsurprisingly, the biggest consumers and downloaders in the app market remain largely unchanged, with the charts still dominated by Unicorn social, chat, and streaming apps such as Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Netflix. However, a few minor changes in the charts for Q1 2023 are worth noting. TikTok moved up a notch to become the most downloaded app in the world, replacing Instagram. TikTok also topped the consumer spending chart, which shows its continued popularity and growth in the app market.