According to a study from Finbold, consumers spent an estimated $41.5 billion on apps from the Apple App Store during the first six months of 2021, which is almost double compared to $23.4 billion spent by Android consumers. 9to5Mac reports: The Apple App Store spendings in H1 21 represents a growth of 22.05% from a similar period in 2020. Cumulatively, spending on the two platforms recorded a growth of 24.8%, year-over-year hitting a total of $64.9 billion: “Mobile app spending grew in 2021 mainly due to consumer behavior resulting from the containment measures around the coronavirus pandemic. From the H1 spending, the outstanding assumption is that consumers’ demand might not be slowing down, considering that most global jurisdictions have eased the pandemic control measures with the vaccine rollout.”
The report shows that although the App Store spending has remained significant, Google Play appears to be catching up by recording the highest growth rate between H1 2020 and H1 2021: 30% YoY. So even with the App Store doing way better, “Android flourished as the pandemic remained persistent in countries with an Android-dense population.” The Finbold survey shows that to keep on the top, Apple’s are countering with the Small Business Program, which reduces the App Store commission from 30% to 15% for developers grossing less than $1 million a year. Although the report shows that the spending on the App Store and Google Play Store were mainly dominated by the gaming sector, in which consumers globally spend $10.32 billion on mobile games in the first half of 2021, the survey highlights that the top three grossing mobile apps worldwide for H1 2021 are TikTok, YouTube, and Tinder.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.