Q2 2024 Digital Market Index: AI Propels Rapid Revenue Growth for Mobile Apps in Q2

More than a year after the launch of ChatGPT sparked enthusiasm for exciting new ways to use AI, the leaders on mobile are still benefiting from embracing this technology. The continued rise of AI-powered apps helped fuel the record-setting $16.5 billion consumers spent in apps (excluding mobile games) in Q2 2024. In  Sensor Tower’s Digital Market Index report, we dig deeper into the latest trends on mobile and the biggest winners in the quarter.

Consumer spend growth in apps has only accelerated over the past few years – the nearly 22% rise year-over-year in Q2 2024 was an improvement from the 18% YoY growth seen in Q2 2023 and 9% YoY growth mark from Q2 2022. The mobile market continues to benefit from apps adding creative features like AI-powered search and image generation, as well as improving global economic conditions and more stability as we move further out from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, app downloads held steady around 21 billion. It's not surprising to see app downloads level out as the mobile market matures and fewer new consumers enter the market. Despite this, the battle for user attention (and spend) remains critical. For example, United States downloads have hovered around 2 billion each quarter since Q4 2020 while consumer spend in the market continues to rise.

Spend Increased Again for All Top App Categories

Monetization opportunities on mobile remained abundant in Q2 2024. Each of the top 10 app categories had positive year-over-year growth in consumer spend – with nine of the 10 achieving growth of at least 13%. AI helped give a boost to Productivity apps in particular – the category led the way in Q2 2024 with 42% YoY growth. ChatGPT surpassed $85 million in consumer spend in Q2 2024, leading eight AI chat apps to reach at least $5 million in the quarter.

While all top categories saw growth, Entertainment held its spot as the top category on mobile, accounting for 28% of global consumer spend across non-game categories. Four of the top 10 apps by QoQ growth in Q2 2024 were Entertainment apps. TikTok continued to break records for consumer spend, and it was joined by DramaBox, Max, and Amazon Prime Video in the top 10 breakout app rankings.

How to Breakout on Mobile in 2024? Exclusive Content and AI

Looking at the top breakout apps in Q2 2024, the leaders leaned on some long-standing reliable practices to improve performance. For streaming apps, nothing beats having the most popular content on your service. Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema, for example, continued to see download spikes in India from exclusive cricket content (the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League, respectively). Exclusive content on Max and Amazon Prime Video helped those apps add subscribers as well, and DramaBox continued to gain traction with its popular short dramas. 

Another breakout app, Adobe Express, demonstrated the power of AI features combined with localizing versions outside of English-speaking markets. In April the app focused its description and screenshots on AI content creation. This combined with localizing its app store page in markets like India helped boost its downloads more than 8x QoQ globally and 21x in India. Adobe Express isn’t alone riding the AI wave – ChatGPT climbed 15 spots to rank among the top 30 apps in the world by consumer spend in Q2 2024 and Chatbot AI & Smart Assistant was a top 10 app by QoQ download growth in Q2 2024.

Want More Insights on the Digital Economy? Read the Full Report

Read the Q2 2024 Digital Market Index report highlighting the market leaders in mobile and digital advertising, spanning 21 markets in a dynamic, interactive format covering:

• Top Markets - countries in North America and Europe show growth opportunities for publishers while China’s mobile market bounces back

• Top Categories - Consumer spend increases in ALL top app categories with many seeing 20%+ growth

• Top Apps - TikTok sets consumer spend records and also leads by downloads

• Top Mobile Games - See how top launches like Squad Busters are reshaping the mobile gaming landscape

• Digital Advertising - US digital ad spend up 15% YoY, propelled by advertising on TikTok and Instagram

• Retail Media Networks - Home & Garden retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s ramp up retail media as the weather heats up