The App Store grabs over 68% of global app revenue on Christmas day
According to preliminary data from app research firm Sensor Tower, $407.6 million was spent globally this past Christmas on apps purchased from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. That number represents a 34.5% year-over-year gain from the $303 million that was spent on apps during Christmas day in 2019. Mobile games made up the majority of app spending on December 25th; that figure was $295.6 million, up 27% from the $232.4 million spent on games during last year's Christmas day. Money spent on non-game apps on Christmas day rose 59% year-over-year from $70.5 million last year to $112 million this year.
Once again, Apple's App Store received the bulk of the money spent on apps globally this past Christmas Day. Sensor Tower shows that $278.6 million, or 68.4% of the total, was spent in the App Store compared to the $129 million in revenue that was collected by the Google Play Store. Those numbers indicate a 35.2% year-over-year increase and a better than 33% annual increase for the App Store and the Google Play Store respectively. In the U.S., consumers spent a total of $130 million in both app stores this Christmas, a gain of 38.7% over last year's $93.7 million.
Global Consumer Spending in Apps on Christmas 2020
Just as mobile games led the way in global app purchases on Christmas day (with Tencent's Honor of Kings topping the category after ringing up $10.7 million in revenue), Games also were the most popular apps in the states on December 25th led by Roblox. The most popular consumer app worldwide on Christmas was short-form video app TikTok. Owned by China's ByteDance, the popular app took in $4.7 million on Christmas.
U.S. Consumer Spending in Apps Christmas 2020
This year has been a record setting one for apps and games as more than $100 billion has been spent in app stores around the world for the first time ever. Even though Android handsets own approximately 85% of the global phone market, the App Store traditionally collects more more revenue than the Google Play Store.
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