According to an analysis by Bloomberg, app spending in 2023 surged by 11%, mainly driven by the increased demand for video platforms while game-related spending decreased by 2% year-over-year. This data reveals that TikTok has surpassed $10 billion in in-app spending, making it the first app to achieve this milestone.
This achievement was made possible through a feature that allows users to tip their favorite creators and live streamers. Market researchers noted that the social media platform owned by ByteDance has “unlocked the secret to monetization on mobile.”
In 2023, spending in apps other than games increased as users were willing to pay more for streaming, user-generated content, and dating apps. However, mobile advertising remained the biggest revenue driver, constituting two-thirds of mobile sales and reaching $362 billion, an 8% increase from 2022.
The analysis also revealed that consumers spent more time on their smartphones, with Indonesia leading in average daily app usage, surpassing 6 hours per person. The top 10 markets averaged 5 hours of daily app usage, with a 3% increase in spending.
Shein and Temu were the most downloaded apps, with the latter being the most downloaded app in 125 markets. Additionally, the travel and ticketing sectors experienced a resurgence in popularity and spending. The data also revealed that generative AI apps exceeded $10 billion in monthly consumer spending by late 2023.
