People spent nearly $65 billion on mobile apps this year. Which ones topped the list?
This illustration picture taken on April 19, 2018 in Paris shows the tablet and smartphone apps for Google, Amazon, Facebook and the Apple Store.
Application revenue earned from mobile phone users around the world jumped to record amount in the first half of 2021, market tracker Sensor Tower said on Monday.
Touching nearly $65 billion, the revenue drove Apple and Google app platforms (App Store and Google Play Store) to thrive even as the companies come under the radar of authorities for antitrust practices.
Initial figures from Sensor Tower suggest that $64.9 billion was spent on App Store and Google Play Store in the period between January-June of this year, inducting a 25 per cent jump from the same period in 2020.
According to the company, $41.5 billion was spent on Apple’s App Store in the first half of this year on subscriptions and other apps, including purchases within the applications. By the end of June, Google Play Store is expected to generate a revenue of $23.4 billion.
Which apps topped the list?
TikTok was the top grossing non-game mobile application. Users spent roughly $920 million on the app this year, denoting a 74 per cent jump from the first six months of last year, as revealed by Sensor Tower.
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YouTube, which is owned by Google, followed TikTok and is the second biggest non-game generator of revenue, with users spending $565 million on the platform.
Spending on mobile games increased by 18 per cent this year, touching $44.7 billion. China’s internet firm Tencent had the top most grossing mobile game - Honor of Kings, which generated over $1.5 billion in the first half of 2021.
"While consumer spending in mobile games is growing at a slower clip than last year, this doesn’t indicate a downturn for the industry but rather a normalization after the surge in interest during the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic," AFP cited Sensor Tower as saying in a post.
The survey sheds light on the growing importance of the “app economy”.
Currently, Epic Games is trying to break Apple’s tight grip on the App Store, hoping to force Apple to open the store to third parties and to limit Apple’s earnings from apps.