App Store Downloads & Revenue - 2020 Report

The adoption of mobile technology continued its upward trend in 2020, significantly influenced by the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the annual “State of Mobile” industry report from App Annie, the number of mobile app downloads rose by 7% compared to the previous year, reaching a record total of 218 billion in 2020. Simultaneously, consumer spending within apps increased by 20%, hitting a new high of $143 billion, with key markets including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom leading the way.

Analysis revealed that users devoted a substantial 3.5 trillion minutes to app usage on Android devices alone, as detailed in the report.

A notable shift occurred in app usage within the United States, where time spent on apps surpassed the time dedicated to watching live television. Currently, the average American spends 3.7 hours daily watching live TV, but now allocates four hours to their mobile devices.

This increase in usage is not limited to the U.S., but is observable across numerous other countries, encompassing both developing mobile markets such as Indonesia, Brazil and India, as well as established markets like China, Japan, South Korea, the U.K., Germany, and France.

This trend extends across all age demographics. In the U.S., for instance, Generation Z, Millennials, and Generation X/Baby Boomers increased their time spent in their most-used apps by 16%, 18%, and 30% year-over-year, respectively. However, the specific apps favored by each group differed considerably.

Among U.S. Generation Z users, the most popular apps on Android included Snapchat, Twitch, TikTok, Roblox and Spotify.

Millennials demonstrated a preference for Discord, LinkedIn, PayPal, Pandora and Amazon Music.

Generation X/Baby Boomers favored Ring, Nextdoor, The Weather Channel, Kindle and ColorNote Notepad Notes.

The report indicated that the pandemic did not fundamentally alter how consumers were utilizing apps in 2020, but rather accelerated mobile adoption by two to three years.

Investors demonstrated considerable interest in supporting mobile businesses, investing $73 billion in capital into mobile companies – a 27% increase year-over-year. According to data from Crunchbase, 26% of total global funding in 2020 was directed towards businesses incorporating a mobile component.

From 2016 to 2020, global funding for mobile technology companies more than doubled compared to the preceding five years, with the majority of investment directed towards financial services, transportation, commerce and shopping.

Mobile gaming continued to expand in 2020. While casual games accounted for 78% of downloads, Core games generated 66% of consumer spending and 55% of the time spent within games.

With many individuals confined to their homes due to COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines, mobile games offering social interaction experienced a surge in popularity. Among Us, for example, became a breakout hit in several markets in 2020, including the U.S.

Other app categories also experienced significant increases in usage over the past year.

Time spent in Finance apps globally increased by 45% in 2020, excluding China, with a 55% rise in mobile stock market participation, driven by apps like Robinhood in the U.S. and similar platforms worldwide that democratized investing and trading.

TikTok also had a remarkable year.

The app experienced 325% year-over-year growth, despite being banned in India, and ranked among the top five apps by time spent. The average monthly time spent per user also increased more rapidly than nearly any other app analyzed, growing by 65% in the U.S. and 80% in the U.K., surpassing Facebook.

TikTok is projected to reach 1.2 billion active users in 2021, according to App Annie’s forecasts.

Other video streaming services also saw growth in 2020, due to a combination of new market entrants and increased time spent at home. Consumers spent 40% more hours streaming on mobile devices, with peak usage occurring in the second quarter in western markets as the pandemic prompted stay-at-home measures.