(Reuters) – Apple Inc’s customers could spend more on non-gaming mobile apps by 2024, data analytics firm SensorTower said Monday, as a lockdown lifestyle leads users to look beyond games to apps that help with more essential services.
Downloads of business, education, health and fitness apps have seen a strong spike due to the stay-at-home measures during the health crisis.
During the early days of the pandemic, users spent more on mobile games in the App Store. But when lockdowns were extended, disrupting work life as well as communication methods, their focus shifted to photo and video sharing, dating, video conferencing and instant messaging apps.
Shares of companies such as Zoom Video Communications Inc and Match Group and other stay-at-home companies rose last year.
SensorTower said consumer spending on mobile apps will reach $ 270 billion worldwide over the next five years, more than tripling compared to 2020.
Apple customers will outperform their Android counterparts as the App Store is expected to generate $ 185 billion in global revenue, the data analytics company said.
The data shows that game revenue will continue to take a relatively higher share of the Google Play Store than the App Store, with a 71% share expected from games in 2025, compared to 42% in the App Store.
The data analytics company expects Europe to become a major market in the next five years, with revenue growth in the continent likely to be faster than Asia and North America.
Downloads in Europe are expected to grow to 36.9 billion by 2025, compared to 28.4 billion in 2020, while revenue growth is expected to more than double to $ 42 billion in the next five years.
Reporting by Eva Mathews and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur