If there is one key take away from the 2017 annual report from App Annie, it is that the mobile app economy is very healthy. The new report indicates that some $86 billion was spent in 2017 globally on apps. That is a 105% increase in spending since 2015. That spending growth came through the estimated 175 billion app downloads that happened in the year, a 60% increase itself since 2015.
China led the way in when it came to overall spending. Consumers in that country increased their spending by 205% since 2015 and spend more time in apps than any other country. China’s consumers also increased their downloading of apps by 125% since 2015. Interestingly, India moved past the United States for the increase in app downloads to hold a distance second place position.
Indeed, in the United States, app downloads actually dropped 5% since 2015 while spending on apps increased 75% over the course of the report. US users generally use about 40 apps per month on their devices, which is generally the average globally. US consumers have on average just shy of 100 apps installed on their phones while Chinese and Japanese users have over 100 installed.
Globally, users send about 3 hours per day in apps on their devices while in the US, engagement in the retail mobile app space was up 70% in 2017.
Finally, revenue from entertainment apps like video streaming apps has exploded. In the United States, revenue is up 277% since 2015 but in China, it is up a staggering 894% for the same time period.
The full detailed report is available for free from App Annie. You’ll need to register to get the full report but if you just want the highlights, you can go here.
