AI Apps Drive Record-Breaking $150 Billion in Mobile Spending for 2024

How AI apps became the biggest winners in mobile spending | bobsguide

Global consumer spending on mobile apps hit $150 billion in 2024, while downloads of AI-powered apps soared to 17 billion, solidifying AI's dominance in the digital economy. he global mobile app market continued its ascent in 2024, reaching unprecedented levels of consumer spending and engagement while witnessing the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday digital interactions. According to Sensor Tower's latest State of Mobile report, consumer spending on apps surged to $150 billion globally, marking a 13% year-over-year (YoY) increase. However, the most striking development of the year was the meteoric rise of AI-powered applications, which captured both time and wallets at an unprecedented rate. For the fourth consecutive year, non-gaming apps outpaced games in consumer spending growth, increasing by $14 billion -- a 25% YoY leap. Among these, film and television streaming ($11.9 billion) and social media ($11.7 billion) apps dominated. Yet, it was AI chatbots and tools that emerged as the defining trend of 2024. Generative AI apps like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Doubao saw consumer spending climb to nearly $1.1 billion, a staggering 200% YoY increase. Time spent on these apps exceeded 7.7 billion hours globally, while apps featuring AI functionality were downloaded 17 billion times. With this momentum, AI-powered applications are poised to enter the ranks of top revenue-generating app categories within the next year. "Consumers are increasingly comfortable making purchases on their devices, and apps have adapted their strategies to capitalize on this attention," said Oliver Yeh, CEO and Co-founder of Sensor Tower. "As AI evolves, we anticipate more creative integrations that further enhance the consumer digital experience." Despite record-breaking spending, signs of digital fatigue began to emerge in some of the most mature app categories. Streaming platforms, while continuing to generate revenue growth, experienced a slight decline in engagement. The challenge for these platforms is twofold: maintaining user loyalty in a highly saturated market and overcoming low switching costs that make it easier for users to migrate between services. This fatigue hasn't slowed all sectors, however. Food and drink apps, which bridge digital and physical experiences, saw a notable boost. Downloads grew by 8.5% YoY, and session counts rose by 9.2% YoY as more businesses integrated app-based solutions into their customer service and purchasing processes. AI adoption has proven to be a transformative force, reshaping how consumers interact with their devices. ChatGPT alone achieved a 500% YoY increase in monthly active users, surpassing 50 million and outpacing early growth benchmarks set by popular apps like Temu and Disney+. This rapid adoption highlights a broader consumer appetite for AI-driven solutions that offer personalization, efficiency, and seamless integration into daily routines. The app ecosystem's evolution shows no signs of slowing, particularly as AI adoption continues to shape consumer expectations. The fusion of AI into app ecosystems signals a new era where digital and physical interactions are increasingly intertwined. Yet, for established categories like streaming, sustaining engagement in a saturated market remains a formidable challenge. As businesses navigate this dynamic landscape, the focus will shift toward creating innovative, AI-powered solutions that keep consumers engaged and drive loyalty. Sensor Tower's report provides a comprehensive roadmap for understanding these shifts, highlighting opportunities for app developers and businesses alike to capture value in 2025 and beyond.

AI apps saw over $1 billion in consumer spending in 2024

Demand for generative AI help drive consumer spending on apps to $150 billion globally in 2024, up 13% from the prior year. According to an annual "State of Mobile" report from app intelligence provider Sensor Tower (which acquired Data.ai, the original report's author, last March), AI apps saw a surge of interest over the past year. This led to an over 200% increase year-over-year in consumer spending in AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, Bytedance's Doubao, and others, bringing the total spent in the category to nearly $1.1 billion in 2024. If this rate of growth is sustained, this category of apps could move into the top 10 by consumer spending within a year, the firm notes. Though the release of new AI models, like OpenAI's GPT-4o last summer, helped to drive app revenue up to record numbers at times, consumer demand for AI apps was consistent throughout the year -- not only during these peak surges. As a result, consumers spent nearly 7.7 billion hours using AI apps in 2024, while apps mentioning "AI" were also downloaded 17 billion times in the year. ChatGPT alone reached 50 million monthly active users -- faster than Temu, Disney+, or YouTube Music, for comparison. This indicates there's still a growing appetite for AI apps and those with AI features. Other app categories seeing movement in 2024 included streaming, crypto, e-commerce, and fintech. Streaming apps saw a slight decline in engagement, despite growth in in-app revenue and downloads. Crypto apps like Binance (No. 6) and Tonkeeper (No. 9) moved into the top 10 finance apps by downloads in 2024. E-commerce apps Temu and Shein ranked as the No. 1 and No. 2 apps, respectively, in the retail subgenre, thanks to expansions in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Meanwhile, finance apps retained double-digit year-over-year growth for time spent in 2024 and neared 7.5 billion downloads, up 8% from 2023. In addition, Sensor Tower said that four games and one app became the latest to reach the milestone of passing $1 billion in consumer spending in 2024. These included Last War, Whiteout Survival, Dungeon & Fighter, Brawl Stars, and WeTV. The full report is available on Sensor Tower's site and includes an analysis of the iOS App Store and Google Play, but not any of the third-party app stores in other regions, like China.

Sensor Tower: Consumer Spending on Apps Soared in 2024 and Mobile Rode the Wave of AI Enthusiasm

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Consumer spending on mobile apps hit $150 billion, while time spent on AI apps spikes by +300% SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sensor Tower, a leading provider of data on the digital economy, today released its annual State of Mobile report for 2025. The report reveals that in 2024 consumer spending on in-app purchases and subscriptions hit $150 billion globally, an increase of 13% year-over-year (YoY). Consumers also remain as connected to their smartphones as ever, with 4.2 trillion (+5.8% YoY) total hours spent on mobile worldwide last year. However, app downloads fell slightly to 136 billion (-1.0% YoY). The findings of the report show that for the fourth consecutive year growth in consumer spend on non-gaming apps outpaced games, with spend in non-games increasing by nearly $14bn in 2024 (25% YoY growth). Film & Television Streaming ($11.9bn) and Social Media ($11.7bn) were, by a considerable margin, the two largest subgenres by consumer spend in 2024. However, it was AI Chatbots that stole the show in 2024. A surge of interest in generative AI saw consumers spend nearly $1.1bn (+200% YoY) in apps such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Doubao, growing at a rate that could catapult the subgenre into the top ten by consumer spending within just a year. Time spent in AI apps like Character AI and ChatGPT nearly eclipsed 7.7 billion hours, and apps mentioning AI were downloaded 17 billion times, emphasizing the growing appetite among consumers for AI features at their fingertips. "Apps continue to capture consumer attention, particularly in non-games. And as consumers spend more time on mobile, they are becoming far more comfortable making purchases on their devices," said Oliver Yeh, Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder, Sensor Tower. "Apps have shifted their monetization strategies to capitalize on this increased attention, finding innovative ways to streamline and improve consumers' digital experience. As we look ahead, we expect to see more apps experiment with AI, finding novel and creative ways of incorporating the technology." Interestingly, though the report points to signs of consumer digital fatigue in top app categories like streaming where engagement is experiencing a slight pullback from recent highs, it also highlights the success of apps that improve in-person customer experiences. Many of the fastest growing categories connect users across devices or to their in-person experiences. Food & Drink app downloads (+8.5% YoY) and session count (+9.2% YoY) saw accelerated growth as more companies integrated the app into the customer buying process. More key findings include: New Billion Dollar Club Members: Four games and one app: Last War, Whiteout Survival, Dungeon & Fighter, Brawl Stars, and WeTV were the latest to reach the billion-dollar club, surpassing $1 billion dollars for consumer spend for a calendar yearThe AI Takeover: ChatGPT has reached 50 million (+500% YoY) Monthly Active Users faster than Temu, Disney+ and YouTube MusicApps Offer Financial Services Convenience: Led by the popularity of digital wallets and mobile banking, finance apps maintained double-digit growth YoY for time spent, and approached 7.5 billion downloads (+8% YoY)Cryptocurrency Apps Establish Global Appeal: Binance (6th) and Tonkeeper (9th) rank among the top 10 finance apps by downloads in 2024Chinese E-tailers Boost Retail Globally: Temu and SHEIN continue their expansion into Europe, Latin America and Asia, ranking first and second respectively for top app downloads in the retail subgenreA Saturated Streaming App Market: While streaming mobile apps have seen ongoing growth in in-app revenue and downloads, engagement is falling as users experience "digital fatigue". The absence of switching costs has made it challenging for newer and smaller platforms to drive loyalty and subscriber growth Sensor Tower's 2025 State of Mobile Report delves deep into regional and category-level market trends. For more information on sector and specific app performance read the full report, here. About Sensor Tower Sensor Tower is the leading source of mobile app, digital advertising, retail media, and audience insights for the largest brands and app publishers across the globe. With a mission to measure the world's digital economy, Sensor Tower's award-winning platform delivers unmatched visibility into the mobile app and digital ecosystem, empowering organizations to stay ahead of changing market dynamics and make informed, strategic decisions. Founded in 2013, Sensor Tower's mobile app insights have helped marketers, app, and game developers demystify the mobile app ecosystem with visibility into usage, engagement, and paid acquisition strategies. Today, Sensor Tower's digital market insights platform has expanded to include Audience, Retail Media, and Digital Advertising Insights (formerly Pathmatics), helping brands and advertisers understand their competitor's advertising strategies and audiences across web, social, and mobile. Please visit www.sensortower.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601734/Sensor_Tower_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601735/Sensor_Tower_2.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sensor-tower-consumer-spending-on-apps-soared-in-2024-and-mobile-rode-the-wave-of-ai-enthusiasm-302356449.html SOURCE Sensor Tower Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs