Global consumer spending on Apple’s App Store and Google Play grew by 32% year-over-year (y-o-y) in Q3 2020 to reach $29.3 billion, per data from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence. The faster-than-average growth in spending is thought to reflect the ongoing impact of COVID-19 along with consistent growth in adoption, globally.
Unlike the rise in first-time downloads seen in H1 2020 from both the App Store and Google Play, the App Store only experienced 2.5% y-o-y growth in downloads in Q3, accounting for 8.2 billion of the total 36.5 billion first-time apps downloaded during the quarter. However, Google Play continues its ascent, increasing 31% y-o-y from 21.6 billion to 28.3 billion.
Nevertheless, it’s the App Store that saw the most global consumer spending in Q3. Spending on in-app purchases, subscriptions and premium apps in the App Store totaled $19 billion in the quarter, up 31% from $14.5 billion in Q3 2019. That said, consumer spending on Google Play grew even faster (33.8% y-o-y), up to $10.3 billion from $7.7 billion a year earlier.
TikTok was the top-grossing app overall for the quarter. In the US alone, usage of the app among adults has doubled over last year, while, during the pandemic, kids in the US have increased the time they spend on the app. TikTok was also the #1 top-grossing app on the App Store, with Google One taking the #1 spot on Google Play.
Beyond app downloads, recent data from Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found that some 70% of US adults play video games, with 6 in 10 saying they play games on their smartphones. Globally, consumer spending on mobile games grew by 26.7% y-o-y to total $20.9 billion across the App Store ($12.4 billion) and Google Play ($8.5 billion).
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About the Data: Figures are estimates from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence for the periods between July 1 and September 2020 and 2019.
