Global App Market Landscape: Emerging Trends and Growth Dynamics

Key Takeaways:

• Global app downloads have declined over the past few years, with installs totaling 138 billion in 2023, representing a 2% decrease YoY

  • Among the top categories by downloads, some bucked this trend. Notably, Shopping and Finance apps experienced YoY growth of 6% and 4%, respectively. Within the Shopping space, e-commerce app Temu emerged as the fastest-growing app by global downloads in 2023

• Conversely, global in-app purchases have increased, with gross revenue exceeding $130 billion in 2023, up 4% YoY. Entertainment, Business, and Music apps in particular witnessed remarkable double-digit YoY IAP revenue growth of 14%, 26%, and 23%, respectively, in 2023

• The Travel category has emerged as the fastest growing in terms of global user growth in recent quarters. By the end of 2023, Travel apps MAUs were up 52% compared to Q1 2022 as travel demand has continued to bounce back in the post-pandemic period

  • Uber and Grab witnessed the largest increases in absolute global MAUs between Q1 2022 and Q4 2023

• In terms of time spent, the Business category demonstrated consistent and positive growth. In 2023, median time spent on business apps increased by at least 10% YoY each quarter, indicating heightened user engagement, which may have potentially been driven by the rapid expansion of AI-powered apps

  • Notably, four newly released AI-powered apps entered the top 100 apps by downloads in 2023. Among these, three – ChatGPT, ChatBox - Ask AI Chatbot, and ChatOn - AI Chat Bot Assistant – all consistently saw QoQ increases in user time spent

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