App Store and Google Play growth flat in Q1 2022, says study

Worldwide app marketplace barely grew since 2021, though the App Store continues to bring in significantly more revenue than Google Play.

The Apple App Store's generated revenue in Q1 of 2022 was "more than double" than that of Google Play's, according to a report by research firm Sensor Tower.

Revenue from the App Store for the period was reported at $21.8 billion, compared to the $10.7 billion of Google Play.

Across both storefronts, nearly all categories saw usage growth. Medical apps grew 102% year-over-year, while navigation grew 24%, with travel, business, and shopping apps rounding out the top five.

The categories of weather, lifestyle, news, and games experienced a decline compared to the results of Q1 2021, however. The gaming app category is the hardest hit, which lost 3.8% of usage over the year.

App downloads in Q1 2022 were 8.5 billion for the App Store, and 28.3 billion for Google Play. They represented a mere 1% growth over Q1 2021.

The top five apps downloaded for iPhone and iPad were, in order of the number of installs: TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook — all of which are social media apps.

Consumers have also spent $21.8 billion on the App Store, compared to $10.7 billion on Google Play. Apple's app-based sales grew 5.8% over the last year, while Google's own sales shrank by 8.5%.

5 Comments

Madbum 536 comments · 2 Years

About 2 years ago

Apple grew 5.8 percent vs Google. Losing 8 percent is considered the same by this author? Is this Core math?

danox 3393 comments · 11 Years

Madbum said:

Apple grew 5.8 percent vs Google. Losing 8 percent is considered the same by this author? Is this Core math?

Apple is doomed…..

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

danox said:

Madbum said:

Apple grew 5.8 percent vs Google. Losing 8 percent is considered the same by this author? Is this Core math?

Apple is doomed…..

The key here is “says study”. Who’s study? What's the reputation of the source of the study? We need to keep reminding ourselves that Apple tech blogs are not news sites, they are rumor sites and “report” aggregation publishers. There is little journalism involved, just reprinting collected stories from around the internet with almost no investigation, analysis, or corroboration.

The problem is many are quick to jump on this stuff for their own bias confirmation (positive or negative) and take things as objective fact.

bestkeptsecret 4285 comments · 13 Years

This is just a theory and is probably incorrect or insignificant, but with the Apple Arcade subscription (either directly, or via the Apple One subscription) it means that a lot of games are now available for free, without the need for IAP.
Gone are the days when the first hundred games were a little underwhelming. We now have Lego Star Wars, Star Trek, Sonic, NBA, etc., as well as some of the original hits like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope - all included with the subscription.

This may have had an impact on App Store revenue, but like I said, it probably is insignificant.

davidw 2112 comments · 17 Years

Madbum said:

Apple grew 5.8 percent vs Google. Losing 8 percent is considered the same by this author? Is this Core math?

It's apps downloads that were flat for both Apple App and Google Play stores, Y/Y. However, even with about 1% download growth Y/Y, Apple saw App Store revenue growth of 5.8% and Google saw a decline in Google Play revenue growth of 8%.

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