Consumers spent nearly twice as much on the App Store than on Google Play

Consumers worldwide spent a combined $34.4 billion USD on mobile apps and games in the first half of 2018.

According to Sensor Tower data, the represents a year-over-year increase of 27.8 percent. By this time last year, consumers had spent $26.9 billion on the App Store and Google Play combined.

Furthermore, spending on the App Store was nearly double the spending on Google Play.

The App Store reached an estimated $22.6 billion in the first half of 2018 — about 1.9 times more than was spent on Google Play. The search giant’s app store saw an estimated $11.8 billion in spending.

Furthermore, Netflix was the highest grossing non-game app worldwide.

First-time app installs also increased by 11.3 percent over this time last year. Around the world, consumers downloaded approximately 51 billion apps for the first time. Facebook led the way with its consortium of apps in the top four spots — WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook and Instagram.

However, Google’s platform had more first-time downloads than Apple’s platform at 36 billion versus 15 billion.

It’s important to note here that Apple’s platform saw more than double the revenue with fewer than half as many downloads.

Additionally, spending on mobile games increased as well. There was a total increase of 19.1 percent. Apple out-earned Google again, with $16.3 billion to Google’s $10.3 billion.

However, Google Play still saw more mobile game downloads, with 15 billion compared to the App Store’s 4.5 billion.

PUBG Mobile, Helix Jump and Subway Surfers were the three most downloaded games during the first half of 2018.

Sensor Tower provides insights and analysis on apps and app stores.

Source: Sensor Tower