US App Store revenue from non-gaming apps just overtook games for the first time

A major shift in the US app economy has just taken place. In the second quarter of this year, US consumer spending on non-gaming mobile applications exceeded spending on mobile games for the first time in May 2022 and the trend continued in June. This led to an increase in total revenue generated by non-gaming applications in the quarter, reaching approximately $3.4 billion on the US App Store, compared to $3.3 billion spent on mobile games.< /p>

After the May change, 50.3% of spending came from non-gaming apps in June 2022, according to new findings from a report by app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. By comparison, games accounted for more than two-thirds of total spending on the US App Store just five years ago.

This trend was limited to the US App Store and however was not seen on Google Play. In the second quarter, games accounted for $2.3 billion of consumer spending on Google Play in the United States, while non-game apps accounted for approximately $1 billion.

Image credits: detection tower

This shift in the US app market is the new report's most important finding and shows how successful Apple has been in creating a subscription economy that allows a wider range of apps to drive revenue. considerable income.

The new data also points in this direction, as it shows that the major players are not the only ones to benefit from the growth in subscription revenues. In the second quarter of 2022, 400 apps generated more than $1 million in consumer spending on the US App Store, eight times the total for the same quarter in 2016. Additionally, 61 non-gaming apps from the US App Store generated at least $10 million in US consumer spending in Q2 2022 – more than the number of non-gaming apps that had generated over $1 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2016.

A handful of non-gaming apps also surpassed $50 million in US consumer spending during the quarter, including YouTube, HBO Max, TikTok, Tinder, Disney+, Hulu, and Bumble.< /p>

Image credits: Sensor Tower

Subscriptions are the main driver of revenue growth here, as non-gaming apps have grown nearly double – at a compound annual growth rate of 40% – since June 2014, compared to less than 20% for the games, according to the report.

The trend is a significant reversal of what mobile app spending looked like just a few years ago.

In 2019 and early 2020, for example, mobile gaming spending growth consistently outpaced non-gaming spending. Spending on games then jumped again at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. But by the end of 2020, offside growth had caught up and the gap widened in 2021.