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Global consumer spending on apps across Apple App Store and Google Play reached $32 billion in the first three months of 2021 alone, according to data by app analytics firm App Annie.
The smartphone app ecosystem showed tremendous growth last year , and weekly time spent on apps grew over 20% in the first three months last year.
Consumer spending is an app metric that includes spending on in-app purchases, subscriptions and premium app downloads.
The rise in consumer spending is up 40% compared with the same period last year. Smartphone users are also said to have spent $9 billion in Q1 2021 than they did in Q1 2020.
Also Read | In-app purchase prices reach new high on record consumer spending
App downloads on both app stores combined rose by 10% to 31 billion this quarter. Separately, the spending on apps grew 40% year over year to $21 billion on iOS.
Short-video app TikTok and social network Facebook remained the top two apps in terms of downloads in the March-ended quarter. YouTube and TikTok aced the list in terms of global consumer spending, while Facebook and WhatsApp Messenger clocked the most number of monthly active users.
Privacy-focused messaging app Signal was the quarter’s second fastest-growing app by downloads and monthly-active users, followed by rival app Telegram . MX Takatak, an Indian short user-generated video content app, was the fastest growing app by downloads, according to App Annie.
Also Read | Dating apps made $3 billion in 2020, Tinder tops spending list
Gaming continued to be the most popular category in the app market , with a billion gaming titles being downloaded every week in the quarter. Total consumer spend on gaming hit $22 billion, with iOS gamers spending nearly $13 billion. Join Clash 3D, Among Us and PUBG Mobile were the top games in terms of downloads, consumer spend and monthly active users.
Mobile gaming is set to reach $120 billion in consumer spend, according to App Annie.
