data.ai has unveiled five key statistics from the mobile landscape offering immediate insight “at a glance”, as part of a broader overview of the industry in the State of Mobile 2024 report.
Firstly, there were a staggering 257 billion app installs in 2023, equating to over 489,000 downloads every single minute of the year.
Additionally, $325,000 was spent every minute, resulting in a total of $171 billion of in-app spending in 2023.
The third notable statistic from data.ai is a 6% increase in time spent on apps, averaging 5 hours per day based on the top 10 mobile-first markets analyzed. This meant a remarkable 14 billion hours were spent on phones every day through Android alone, and a massive 5.1 trillion hours across 2023.
Fourthly, mobile ad spend also experienced an 8% increase year-on-year, amounting to $362 billion. This made spending on mobile ads a larger economy than the entire economies of countries like Finland, Colombia, and New Zealand.
And lastly…
To wrap it up, it was non-gaming apps that drove the year’s success, gaining 20 times more revenue since 2014 and generating $64 billion last year alone. Although there was still growth in the gaming sector, it was at a much slower pace. RPGs emerged as the leader with an incredibly impressive 30% of total mobile game revenues, despite representing only 3% of downloads.
Lexi Sydow, data.ai’s director of corporate marketing and insights, summarized the report, stating, “Mobile gaming demand remained high at 88 billion downloads in 2023. Although global spend dropped 2% YoY to $107 billion, spend remained steady year over year outside of China, which is a positive sign following the dip in 2022. Gaming remains 2.5x larger than home console or PC/Mac spending.”
“2023 saw blockbuster releases. Monopoly GO, Royal Match, Honkai: Star Rail, and Whiteout Survival topped the breakout charts for consumer spend. Royal Match made significant strides in the Match genre, previously dominated by Candy Crush Saga. Social elements became even more crucial in mobile gameplay as mobile domination continued in the gaming landscape.”
Among data.ai’s broader mobile observations, the analyst noted the influence of generative AI, chatbots, and art generators in 2023, as well as an increasing demand for real-world experiences while “phones in tow”. Entertainment apps experienced double-digit growth, with three trillion hours watched in 2023, explaining how the UK’s video market has outpaced gaming.
