A record $277 million was spent on Christmas applications
So, what happened? Spending on mobile apps rose by 11.3 percent year over year on Christmas, hitting $277 million across the App Store and Google Play. The majority of the money was spent on mobile games, which accounted for $210 million, or 76%.
Consumer spending on apps and games totaled nearly $5.1 billion globally in December, up 8% from the same time last year, according to a survey from mobile analyst firm Sensor Tower, with about 5% of that falling on Christmas Day.
PUBG was the top-grossing mobile game on Christmas, which is unsurprising. The battle royale game made an astounding $8.5 million in in-game spending on the day, up 431 percent from last Christmas’s $1.6 million.
PUBG had a banner year in 2019. On PC, it may be up against Fortnite and Apex Legends. However, it has dominated the first game in the genre to cross $1 billion in revenue—thanks mainly to China.
Because of new smartphone purchases, first-time mobile users, and customers who have earned gift cards, Christmas is still a lucrative time for mobile apps and games. Non-game apps also saw a 2% rise in spending over the previous year, taking around $67 million. Entertainment apps like Disney+ and Tencent Video accounted for the bulk of the money in this category (24 percent). At the same time, Tinder was the top non-gaming app for spending ($2.1 million).
The majority of the funds came from Apple’s App Store, as anticipated. It took $193 million (70 percent), up 16 percent year over year, with $84 million spent on Google Play, representing a 2.7 percent annual increase.
Although app spending rose in the United States, the 4.8 percent raise was less than the global figure. However, both domestic and foreign expenditures have reached new peaks.
