User spending on apps skyrocketed in 2024 and the wave of enthusiasm for AI boosts consumption

User spending on mobile apps reached $150 billion by 2024, which represents an increase of 13% year-on-year, while the wave of enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence (AI) causes a significant increase in their consumption time, according to data from the annual ‘State of Mobile’ report, published this Wednesday by digital economy data provider Sensor Tower.

The findings of this study show that, for the fourth consecutive year, consumer spending growth on non-gaming apps outpaced that on gaming apps, with non-gaming apps increasing by nearly $14 billion during 2024 (25 % year-on-year growth). Film and television streaming ($11.9 billion) and social networks ($11.7 billion) were, by a considerable margin, the two largest subgenres by spend.

For its part, the emergence of generative AI led consumers to spend close to 1.1 billion dollars (an increase of 200% year-on-year) in applications such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Doubao, growing at a pace that could catapult this subgenre into the top 10 for consumer spending in just one year. “Artificial intelligence chatbots were the main protagonists of 2024,” the report reiterates.

Time spent on AI applications like Character AI and ChatGPT nearly reached 7.7 billion hours, and Apps that mention AI were downloaded 17 billion times, underscoring consumers’ growing interest in having AI capabilities at their fingertips.

MORE CONSUMPTION DESPITE THE SLIGHT FALL IN DOWNLOADS

“Apps continue to capture consumers’ attention, particularly in categories outside of gaming. As consumers spend more time on mobile devices, they are much more comfortable making purchases from their devices,” said Oliver Yeh, CEO executive and co-founder of Sensor Tower, despite the fact that the report recognizes a 1% drop in app downloads in 2024, standing at 136,000 million.

The manager explains that applications have adjusted their monetization strategies to take advantage of this growing attention, finding innovative ways to optimize and improve consumers’ digital experience. “Looking ahead, we hope to see more applications that experiment with artificial intelligencediscovering new and creative ways to incorporate this technology,” he added.

Although the report states signs of digital fatigue among consumers In major application categories such as streaming, where engagement is experiencing a slight decline from recent highs, the success of applications that improve the customer’s in-person experience also stands out.

Many of the fastest-growing categories connect users across devices or with in-person experiences. Food and Drink apps experienced accelerated growth in downloads (+8.5% year-on-year) and in number of sessions (+9.2% year-on-year) as more companies integrate these applications into the customer purchasing process.

THE 1 BILLION DOLLAR CLUB

The report also highlights that four games and one app, Last War, Whiteout Survival, Dungeon & Fighter, Brawl Stars y WeTVhave entered the ‘billion dollar club’, by exceeding this figure in consumer spending in one year.

The document also emphasizes the role of applications in facilitate financial services: “Driven by the popularity of digital wallets and mobile banking, financial applications maintained double-digit year-on-year growth in usage time and approached 7.5 billion downloads, an increase of 8% year-on-year.”

Finally, it highlights that Cryptocurrency apps gain global appealwith Binance (6th) and Tonkeeper (9th) among the ten most downloaded finance applications in 2024, as well as the impact of Chinese e-commerce platforms, among which Temu and SHEIN stand out, after registering a significant expansion and increase in downloads in Europe, Latin America and Asia.