App Store Downloads & Revenue 2020: $112 Billion Spend

According to year-end projections from App Annie, a leading mobile data and analytics company, users are expected to have downloaded 130 billion applications in 2020 across both the iOS and Google Play platforms – a 10% increase compared to the previous year. The firm also forecasts that total consumer expenditure within these two app stores will experience a 25% year-over-year rise, culminating in $112 billion by the close of the year.

Typically, the majority of download increases originate from developing nations; however, the circumstances this year proved to be different.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the adoption of mobile technology, advancing it by two to three years. Consequently, individuals increasingly relied on applications as digital resources for activities such as work, learning, entertainment, and shopping. This trend fueled a surge in downloads, time spent using mobile devices, and overall consumer spending, even as the mobile market reached a more mature stage.

While Google Play accounted for 160% of the downloads compared to iOS in 2020, both platforms demonstrated a 10% growth rate. The proportion of downloads attributed to games also rose, reaching 40%. Specifically, games represented 45% of all downloads on Google Play, a 5% increase year-over-year, while maintaining a 30% share on iOS. Furthermore, games were responsible for $0.71 of every dollar spent across both app stores.

The COVID-19 pandemic also led to consumers dedicating more time to their devices – a metric that saw a substantial 25% increase from 2019, reaching over 3.3 trillion hours on Android. (App Annie is unable to provide this data for iOS.)

This increased engagement contributed to the growth in consumer spending, which reached a new high of $112 billion in 2020. In 2020, 65 cents of every dollar spent was allocated to iOS; however, expenditure on Google Play continues to expand and is projected to approach 30% this year.

The leading markets for consumer spending on iOS were the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, a shift from 2018 and 2019, which featured the United States, China, and Japan. For Google Play, the top markets were the United States, South Korea, and Germany – with South Korea and Germany surpassing Japan and the United Kingdom in terms of growth compared to the previous two years.

The report also identified the most popular applications of the year, with TikTok ranking as the number one app by downloads and second by consumer spending, trailing only Facebook in monthly active users. Despite restrictions, the dating application Tinder secured the number two position in terms of consumer expenditure.

Additional applications from Facebook, including Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, maintained prominent positions in download and active user rankings. Due to the impact of COVID-19, Zoom emerged as a top download in 2020, claiming the number four spot. Apple reported that on iOS, Zoom was the number one downloaded app, followed by TikTok. Google Meet also appeared on the list, at number seven.

It is important to note that the figures presented do not provide a complete overview of the mobile market, as they exclude third-party app stores operating in China. These figures are incorporated into App Annie’s more comprehensive “State of Mobile” report, which is typically released early in the year, covering data from the previous year.