Consumers continue to spend significant amounts on mobile apps inspired by the recent growth of the sector. Amid the spending spree, Apple’s App Store has sustained the top position across the years.

According to data acquired by Finbold, consumers spent an estimated $41.5 billion on apps from the Apple App Store during the first six months of 2021. The spending represents a growth of 22.05% from a similar period in 2020. App Store’s H1 2021 spending is almost double compared to $23.4 billion spent by Android consumers.

The Google Play spending represents a growth of 30% on a year-over-year basis. Cumulatively, spending on the two platforms recorded an increase of 24.8% YoY, hitting a total of $64.9 billion.

During the first half of 2019, App Store spending stood at $26.3 billion, while Google Play consumers utilized $14.3 billion. Cumulatively, during the half, spending stood at $40.6 billion.

Elsewhere, short video sharing platform TikTok maintained dominance in 2021, emerging as the most grossing app for the first half at $920 million, followed by YouTube at $564.7 million. Dating app Tinder ranks third at $520.3 million.

Pandemic inspires app spending

The report highlights the drivers behind Google Play’s high growth rate in 2021 H1 compared to App Store. According to the research report:

    “Although the App Store spending has remained significant, Google Play appears to be catching up by recording the highest growth rate between H1 2020 and H1 2021. Although iOS remained dominant, Android flourished as the pandemic remained persistent in countries with an Android-dense population.”

In the future, consumers are likely to spend more as developers leverage more on emerging technologies like 5G that is gaining traction globally.