Global App Spending Hit $407 Million on Christmas 2020

Global app spending hit $407 million on Christmas with a 35% year-over-year increase, according to recent data from Sensor Tower. 

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and measures taken by the governments, we’ve been limiting our physical interaction with others and staying at home more than ever to stop the spread of the virus for almost a year now. As a result, 2020 has been a record-breaking year for mobile apps as billions of people around the world are looking for ways to keep themselves entertained and mobile apps are one of the easiest ways of doing it.

Last month, global app spending reached $100 billion in a single year for the first time ever and it also continued on Christmas when users around the world spent nearly $407.6 million across both Google Play Store and App Store, according to recent data from Sensor Tower. 

This is 34.5% higher than 2019 when consumer spending on mobile apps and games reached nearly $303 million on Christmas, with a 17.7% y/y increase from the previous year. 

According to the data, global consumer spending on Christmas made up the 4.5% of the total spending generated this month so far, which reached nearly $9 billion from December 1 to December 27. 

Just like in previous years, Apple App Store accounted for the majority of the Christmas app spending this year, generating $278.6 million, or 68.4%, of the total figure with a 35.2% year-over-year growth. Meanwhile, Google Play Store apps generated $129 million in user spending on Christmas, with a 33% Y/Y increase. 

Approximately $295.6 million was spent on mobile games, which is 27% up from the previous year when this figure was $232.4 million on Christmas. 

Honor of Kings by Tencent was the clear leader of the gaming category on Christmas, generating around $10.7 million with a 205.7% Y/Y growth. The popular title hit 100 million daily active users last month and surpassed $2.5 billion in user spending in 2020 so far. 

Non gaming apps generated $112 million on Christmas this year, 59% more than the previous year when they generated $70.5 million. The highest grossing category on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store was Entertainment. 

On Christmas, Entertainment apps generated $19.3 million which makes up 21.8% of the total spending on non-gaming apps. While Android users spent $4.3 million on Entertainment apps, the category generated $15 million on the App Store. 

TikTok was the clear leader of non-gaming apps generating $4.7 million in consumer spending. 

Also Read: TikTok Revenue And Usage Statistics (2021)

U.S. App Spending On Christmas 2020

On Christmas 2020, consumers in the United States spent approximately $130 million on mobile apps and games across both Google Play Store and App Store, with a 38.7% year-over-year growth. This figure was $93.7 million in 2019.

Similarly, gaming apps accounted for the majority of the total revenue in the United States, generating $87.2 million, 26.4% higher than the previous year. 

Non-gaming apps saw $42.7 million in revenue with a 72.2% growth and Entertainment was the leader category with $9.6 million, or 22.5% of the total spending on non-gaming apps. 

Among the gaming apps, Roblox was the clear leader in the United States generating $6.6 million in revenue. The title surpassed $2 billion in player spending last month and the company acquired real-time facial animation company Loom.ai two weeks ago. 

Among the non-gaming apps, Disney+ was the leader in terms of consumer spending, generating $2.6 million with a 44.4% growth. It was recently chosen as the Best Apple TV App of the Year by Apple and listed among the Best For Fun category by Google. 

Find out all the winners of App Store Best of 2020 Awards and Google Play Best of 2020 Awards.