Mikey Campbell
Global spending on the top 100 subscription apps sold through Apple's App Store hit $10.3 billion in 2020, nearly quadrupling spend rates on Google Play over the same period, a report said Thursday.
Research firm Sensor Tower estimates global spending on the App Store's top-performing, non-game subscription titles grew 32% year-over-year to reach $10.3 billion. Growth was similar in the U.S., with spending increasing 25% to hit $4.5 billion.
Subscription apps distributed through Google's Play Store also experienced worldwide growth, moving 42% from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $2.7 billion in 2020. In the U.S., consumers spent $1.4 billion on Android subscription-based apps across 2020, up from $1 billion in 2019.
Overall, revenue from the top 100 earning non-game subscription apps grew 34 percent year-over-year to reach a new high of $13 billion, the report says. Subscription apps accounted for about 11.7% of the $111 billion spent globally on in-app purchases last year, according to Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence data.
Alphabet's various services brought in the most money both globally and in the U.S., led by subscriptions to YouTube and Google One. Disney+, Tinder, Pandora, Twitch, Bumble and HBO Max also ranked in the top ten in terms of overall, App Store and Google Play revenue.
Apple's app ecosystem has historically attracted higher consumer spend rates. While Google exhibited stronger growth in subscription app revenue for 2020, the App Store is still the clear leader. That pattern also translates to overall store performance.
In January, Sensor Tower reported 2020 spending on App Store purchases at $72.3 billion, with Google Play trailing at $38.6 billion.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
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Andrew Orr
3 Comments
Not surprised by this. I recently switched to iOS from Android after losing all faith in Google to pretty much do anything they promise they'll do.
I use MyRadar as my weather application (great Hurricane and storm tracking). I signed up for the $10/yr subscription since it works on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. On Android, it was a good on phones, but terrible on tablets and non-existent on wearables.
The value proposition on iOS is far greater, leading to more people willing to subscribe/pay for apps and services compared to Android.
Clearly this shows that Apple’s App Store fees of 30% are blatantly unfair to developers. Apple should have the same developer fee structure as the Play Store... /s
All that money being spent in the App Store doesn't really translate into success for Apple's own subscription apps. Not a single one of Apple's subs appears in the Top 10 list for the App Store. iOS users seem love some Google products though. Appleinsider seems to have chosen not to include the other graphic from the Sense Tower source article. MR has more detailed info: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/12/app-store-top-100-subs-revenue-2020/
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