We are finishing the year, and it was certainly a year like no other for many reasons. Today we will go into detail about the different trends and numbers of the mobile app market. Was 2020 a good year?
2020: A Special Year
We all started this year with renewed energy and a desire to grow in business and personal projects.
Surely many of you were able to achieve this, but with an adaptation that we had not lived before. There are also people who didn’t have a great time and had to reinvent themselves in order to grow up in a difficult context.
2020 surprised us with a pandemic, something for which we were not very prepared and which we did not imagine even in the worst case.
The ability of the world to adapt to difficult contexts was put into play, people around the world had to stay for moments in their homes and take care of their families.
But there are many factors that helped overcome this situation, and we believe that the most important of them was the digital revolution that has been taking place in recent times throughout the world.
The growth of the different digital markets, with personalized services and offers for every need and digital platforms that replaced even educational institutions, was key to being able to normalize a little the day to day of the people.
That is why we want to highlight the work that everyone did in the market to meet the demands of people who needed a solution. And that job was done by you!
Did the Mobile App Market Grow in 2020?
Yes, the mobile apps market grew sharply throughout 2020.
The value that people began to perceive from the various apps was greater than in previous years, and the number of downloads had a huge increase.
The different institutions that had physical branches began to develop better apps to be able to offer their customers and users a more comfortable and pleasant experience from their homes.
This is why we believe that the mobile apps market proved once again that what users need is to have a service in the palm of their hand, which they can trust and keep things simple for them.
One question to clarify is that all this does not mean that the market grew exponentially only because of the COVID-19 pandemic situation, but that it is doing it year after year, and that is why from Convertify we insist that it is always the best time to create an app for your business and take the advantage within your competitors.
If you don’t have an app yet or if you’re thinking about creating an app, it’s the best time! You just have to think that’s what people need and work hard to meet that demand.
Mobile App Usage Statistics
The use of mobile apps is one of the points that show the growth of this market. People are becoming more and more comfortable that companies offer them, and it is something that will not stop growing.
Our friends from the Hosting Tribunal provided very interesting data on mobile usability.
Some of the ones that we consider most, and that we think are amazing, are the following:
- Users spend nearly 90% of their smartphone time using apps.
- The most downloaded non-gaming app in 2020 is TikTok.
- From 2017–2020, the number of mobile apps downloads increased by 12.7 billion.
- It’s estimated that by 2024, the number of mobile app users will be over 1.03 billion.
- As of September 2020, Google Play Store and iOS App Store had 108 billion app downloads.
Yeah, 108 billion downloads! They are incredible numbers and we must take them into account to realize the importance of this market.
Mobile App Revenue Statistics
The usability of mobile apps is not the only amazing thing in this whole story. There is another factor that often catches people the most, and it is revenue.
The amount of money this market is capturing is growing, and in 2020 it continued to grow.
In-App Purchases, Advertising, and other models are the ones that move all this revenue, that’s why we made a series of blog posts so you learn more about how to make the most of apps.
People at Business of Apps conducted a great study on mobile app revenue growth in 2020 and compared to previous years.
App Revenues in General
Gaming App Revenues
Non-Gaming App Revenues
Subscription App Revenue
In-App Purchases Revenues
While this last chart seems to represent a drop in the In-App Purchases, Business of Apps explains it by saying that “the total revenue for 2020 is projected to be almost double the amount generated in 2019”.
Conclusions About the Mobile App Market
It was a difficult year from many points of view.
Many businesses had to close, while there were many deaths because of the virus COVID-19. They are points to regret and to take into account.
But despite all the difficulties, there were good times and a lot of growth throughout the world. Some businesses grew, many people grew as they learned and adapted, and the world, in general, was able to grow in many ways.
We bid farewell this year with many apprenticeships and a desire to continue learning in 2021.
Thank you very much for joining us on this road.
