Consumers will spend $85 billion on the App Store this year

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By Joe Wituschek
published

Apple App Store Awards 2021 Hero
Apple App Store Awards 2021 Hero (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Consumers are projected to spend over $85 billion in the App Store this year.
  • It represents over 17% growth when compared to 2020.

The App Store outperformed the Google Play Store once again in 2021.

According to data collected by Sensor Tower, consumer spending on mobile apps could reach $133 billion across the App Store and Google Play Store in 2021. If so, it would represent almost twenty percent growth when compared to 2020. Of that $133 billion, the App Store is projected to capture $85 billion in market share.

Globally, consumer spending on the App Store will reach $85.1 billion, up 17.7 percent Y/Y from $72.3 billion in 2020. Although users have spent less on Google Play, that platform will see more Y/Y growth, climbing 23.5 percent to $47.9 billion from $38.8 billion. The two platforms' spending relative to each other remains the same as in 2020, with the App Store seeing about 1.8 times the revenue as Google's marketplace.

TikTok is projected to be the most downloaded app in the App Store this year, with YouTube and WhatsApp coming in second and third. The app saw almost $2 billion in revenue in the first eleven months of 2021.

TikTok is the most downloaded app on the App Store for 2021, racking up 745.9 million installs across both app stores. This is despite a dip of 24 percent Y/Y from 980.7 million installs in 2020, demonstrating the app's global popularity even as it was removed from its top market India.

Mobile games will rake in approximately $52.3 billion by the end of the year. PUBG Mobile is projected to bring in the most downloads with Project Makeover and Roblox trailing behind it.

Mobile games will have been downloaded approximately 8.6 billion times globally on the App Store in 2021, down 14.9 percent Y/Y. Tencent will also take the top spot with PUBG Mobile, including the Chinese localized version Game for Peace. The title will reach approximately 47.5 million installs on the App Store by the end of year, down 18.5 percent from 58.3 million.

You can read the full report from Sensor Tower here.

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.