Consumer spending in mobile apps hits record $111 bn in 2020

Most cash went to the gaming category, generating a record $79.5 billion, about 72% of all in-app spending.

First-time app installs also reached a record high in 2020

(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)

Global consumer spending in mobile apps soared to a record high in 2020 as users spent nearly $111 billion on in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium apps across App Store and Play Store in 2020, up 30% from 2019, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

Consumer spent $72.3 billion on App Store, and $38.6 billion on Google Play, both combined grew by about 30% from 2019 .

Most cash went to the gaming category, generating a record $79.5 billion, about 72% of all in-app spending, Sensor Tower estimated.

Honor of Kings from Tencent was the highest grossing iOS game, and Moon Active’s Coin Master was the highest grossing on Google Play. Five mobile games alone earned more than $1 billion.

TikTok was the highest grossing non-game app on the App Store, growing more than 600% to $1.2 billion. Google One generated the most revenue on Android devices.

First-time app installs across both App Store and Google Play also reached a record 143 billion in 2020, growing 24% from 2019.