US iPhone users spent an average of $138 on apps in 2020, will grow to $180 in 2021 – ProWellTech
U.S. consumers spent an average of $ 138 on iPhone apps last year, a 38% year-over-year increase that was largely due to the impact of the pandemic, according to data new data from the App Store Intelligence company Sensor Tower. Throughout 2020, consumers turned to iPhone apps for work, school, entertainment, shopping, and more, pushing per-user spend to a new record and the largest annual growth since 2016, when it rose 42% year over year. had risen.
Sensor Tower tells ProWellTech that the trend towards higher consumer spending will continue in 2021, when consumer spend per active iPhone in the US is projected to average $ 180. This will again be related, at least in part, to the surge caused by the pandemic – and in particular to the increase in pandemic-triggered spending on mobile games.
Credit: Sensor tower
The increased spending on iPhone apps in the US over the past year reflected the global trends on which consumers were spending a Record of $ 111 billion for iOS and Android apps per sensor tower and $ 143 billion per app Annie, the analysis of which also included some third-party Android app stores in China.
In terms of the focus of US iPhone consumer spending in 2020, the largest category was, of course, gaming.
In the US, mobile game spend per device increased 43% year over year from $ 53.80 in 2019 to $ 76.80 in 2020, more than 20 points more than the 22% growth between 2018 and 2019, when in-game spending rose from $ 44 to $ 53.80 from 2003 to 2019.
US users spent most of the money on puzzles like Candy Crush Saga and Gardenscapes, which may have helped distract people from the pandemic and the stresses it brings. This category averaged $ 15.50 per active iPhone, followed by casino games averaged $ 13.10 caused by physical casino closures. Strategy games also saw a Torrent in 2020 spending averaged $ 12.30 per iPhone user.
Credit: Sensor tower
Another big category for in-app spending was entertainment. After theaters and concerts closed, consumers turned to streaming apps in greater numbers. Disney + launched in late 2019, just months before the pandemic lockdowns, and HBO Max soon followed suit in May 2020.
Average per-device spend in this category was the second highest at $ 10.20, up 26% from the $ 8.10 spent in 2019. For comparison: The expenditure per device only increased by 1% between 2018 and 2019.
Further categories in the top 5 according to device expenditure were photo & video (plus 56% to USD 9.80), social networking (plus 41% to USD 7.90) and lifestyle (plus 14% to USD 6.50).
These increases were tied to apps like TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch. Twitch saw sales growth of 680% year over year in 2020, especially for US iPhones. TikTok saw 140% growth. In the Lifestyle category, dating apps drove growth as consumers wanted to virtually connect with others during the lockdown while bars and clubs were closed.
Overall, what was unique about 2020 wasn’t necessarily what apps users were using, but how often they were used and how much was spent.
App Annie had previously indicated that the pandemic accelerated cell phone adoption by two to three years. And Sensor Tower tells us today that the industry hasn’t seen the same kind of “seasonality” in spending on certain types of apps, and games in particular, over the past year – although there are typically slower parts of the year on spending before the pandemic. That wasn’t the case in 2020 when it was a good time for apps.
