Mobile App Spending Forecast to Double by 2024, Impact of COVID-19 Expected to be Minimal
Global consumer spending in mobile apps and games during 2020 will suffer only marginally as the result of reduced purchasing power brought about by COVID-19.
According to the latest data, a sizable increase in app downloads for industries like remote work, education and grocery apps will drive app install growth for the early part of 2020.
Despite decreases in downloads for ridesharing and fast food apps, mobile app spending globally will continue to grow and is forecast to double by 2024.
Insights:
- 🌏 Global spending on mobile apps is projected to reach $171b by 2024. (2x the $85b in 2019).
- 📈 Apple’s App Store and Google Play will see revenue increase by 80% by 2024.
- 🎮 By 2024, mobile games will reach $97.8b (41% of total consumer spending).
- 💪 China will be a top market & will reach $35b in App Store spending alone by 2024.
What Does it Mean?
Despite the significant amount of current economic uncertainty, we forecast that the mobile app economy will emerge healthy from COVID-19 and is expected to hit several milestones in the next 5 years.
For starters, global spending on mobile apps will surpass $100 billion for the first time in 2020, growing at approximately 20% year-over-year to hit $102 billion.
Additionally, revenue from non-game mobile apps is expected to surpass that of mobile games for the first time by 2024, driven by the growth in subscription apps — Entertainment, Social Networking, Audio and Lifestyle app subscriptions like Nike’s NTC fitness app.
This period is increasing consumer reliance on mobile as a means for commerce, communication, and entertainment to levels never before seen.
We forecast that the outcome of this situation sees mobile apps more centrally positioned than ever before as the way consumers choose to interact with brands.
