Global app ecosystem generated revenue of $50 billion from Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store in the first half of 2020, growing at 23% y-o-y (year-on-year) from $40.6 billion at the same period last year. Tinder remained the highest earning non-gaming app while PUBG Mobile was the top grossing mobile game during the period, mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence estimates show.
The App Store once again accounted for the bulk of the revenue with an estimated $32.8 billion in the first half of 2020, growing at 24.7% y-o-y. Most of the revenue came from in-app purchases, subscriptions, and purchase of premium apps and games.
Revenue from Play Store also grew to $17.3 billion in the first half of this year versus $14.3 billion in the same period in 2019.
While Tinder once again remained the highest grossing app with an estimated revenue of $433 million, the overall user spending on the dating app dropped by 19% y-o-y, from $532 million in the first half of 2019.
After Tinder, YouTube with an estimated revenue of $431 million and TikTok with revenue of $421 million were the other top grossing apps. In terms of downloads, TikTok was the top non-gaming app with 626 million new installs in the first half of 2020.
TikTok was among the 59 apps that was banned by Indian government over privacy and security concerns. India is the biggest market for TikTok.
The report shows that the covid-19 led lockdown has led to an increase in consumption and spending on mobile games.
The total spending on mobile gaming was $36.6 billion, up by 21.2% y-o-y.
The App Store's share of the spending on gaming was $22.2 billion growing at 22.7% y-o-y.
Tencent's PUBG Mobile became the top-grossing game in the first half of 2020, earning an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue globally. Honor of Kings slipped down to second position, yet made around $1 billion.
New mobile game downloads also increased this year as people have been trying new apps while remaining confined at home. Sensor Tower estimates 28.5 billion first-time installs in the first half of 2020 with a YoY increase of 42.5%. First time installs for non-gaming apps was 71.5 billion, up by 26.1% YoY.
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