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Surge in downloads amid coronavirus will see consumer app spending double over five years, report says

  • Consumer spending on mobile apps is expected to reach US$171 billion by 2024, double the amount last year
  • China will lead the market in terms of in-app purchases on the App Store through to 2024, followed by the US and Japan

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The WhatsApp application is displayed in the App Store on an iPhone in an arranged photograph taken on April 29, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

The surge in app downloads during the global coronavirus pandemic will lift all geographic markets for a “prolonged” period, driving a doubling in consumer spending on apps over five years, according to forecast published Wednesdayby analytics firm Sensor Tower.

China’s “massive increase” in downloads in 2020 will give a major boost to categories including games and education while the US will experience is own “spike in installs [this year] due to Covid-19,” the company said.

China will lead the mobile app market in terms of in-app purchases on the App Store through to 2024, followed by the US and Japan, all of which will see a compound annual growth rate greater than 10 per cent over the period.

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Consumer spending on mobile apps on both the App Store and Google Play is expected to reach US$171 billion by 2024, double the amount from last year, Sensor Tower said.

However, the regulatory environment in China makes it a “difficult market to predict,” it added.

Beijing has already blocked Google Play, which will account for more than 32 per cent of in-app purchase globally in 2024, according to Sensor Tower. The mainland Chinese market is fragmented into several smaller app publishing platforms, while the domestic Android smartphone giants, including Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, are said to be building a Google Play alternative. 
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