Spending in Entertainment Apps Reached $727 Million Worldwide in Q1 2019, Up 26% Year-Over-Year

Entertainment app revenue in Q1 2019 was $727 million worldwide, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data, representing a 26 percent year-over-year increase from Q1 2018. Continue reading for the entertainment app revenue trends from 2016 to 2019 for the App Store and Google Play. This is the second in a series of excerpts from our State of Entertainment Apps report, available exclusively to our enterprise customers. The entertainment app revenue estimates are sourced from our Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data.

Worldwide Entertainment App Revenue Trends

While Google Play accounted for 75 percent of entertainment app downloads in Q1 2019, it generated only 11 percent of the in-app revenue. Revenue is still primarily earned on the App Store, with nearly 90 percent of the consumer spending in these apps coming from Apple’s platform since Q1 2016. With Apple’s increased focus on subscriptions in recent years, SVOD and other subscription-based apps achieve most of their success on the App Store.

App Store entertainment revenue in China has continued to rise, but the growth will likely slow given the decreased downloads of some top SVOD apps.

Top Entertainment Apps Worldwide by Revenue on the App Store and Google Play

Netflix ranked at No. 1 for revenue each year from 2016 to 2018, as well as in Q1 2019. Tencent Video, iQIYI, YouTube, and Youku were in the top five ranked entertainment apps worldwide by revenue in Q1 2019. Note that this ranking does not include all apps in the Entertainment category—we excluded apps that are not TV, video, or ticketing apps. For example, live video apps such as LiveMe and games like Colorfy are excluded.

Top Entertainment Apps in the United States by Revenue

Boosted by the release of a new season of Game of Thrones, U.S. entertainment app revenue grew 33 percent quarter-over-quarter in Q3 2017. The growth has slowed since, with Q1 2019 revenue actually decreasing 7 percent Q/Q to $235 million. App Store revenue was 86 percent of U.S. entertainment app revenue in Q1 2019. The App Store’s share has been between 83 and 88 percent each quarter since Q2 2016, with the exception of Q3 2017 when it only accounted for 78 percent.

Top Entertainment Apps in Europe by Revenue

Entertainment revenue saw a huge jump in Europe in 2017, increasing close to 2.7x from $25 million in Q1 2017 to $67 million in Q1 2018. Netflix was responsible for about half of this revenue throughout, from $12 million in Q1 2017 to $34 million in Q1 2018. Unlike in the U.S., European entertainment app revenue continued to rise in Q1 2019 despite Netflix removing the ability to subscribe through its app. The growth slowed to 10 percent year-over-year in Q1 2019.

Store Intelligence users can see revenue and download estimates for the above apps and countries in addition to historical performance metrics on the Sensor Tower platform. Our estimates include worldwide downloads for the App Store and Google Play between Jan. 1, 2016 and Mar. 31, 2019. Apple apps and Google pre-installed apps are excluded. We report unique installs only. Android estimates do not include third-party stores. Figures represent aggregate installs of all app versions, ex: Facebook and Facebook Lite.