After years of impressive growth, the global app market saw a downturn in 2022, both in revenue and downloads.
According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, the combined number of downloads in Google Play and App Store, the world`s two largest distribution channels for mobile apps, has dropped by a massive two billion year-over-year.
Google Play Downloads Plunged, App Store Downloads Grow
Although the App Store is stronger in terms of revenue, the Google Play platform has always made up the bulk of app downloads. However, Google`s app store suffered a severe download decline last year. In fact, the Sensor Tower, Statista, and TechCrunch data show that practically the entire downloads drop in 2022 came from Android users.
In 2018, the two app stores hit 105.3 billion downloads worldwide. A year later, this figure jumped by almost 10% to 115.3 billion and continued rising. Statistics show 2020 saw the biggest year-over-year growth, with the combined number of Google Play and App Store downloads surging by 24% YoY to an impressive 143 billion. After years of remarkable growth, downloads almost stagnated in 2021, with their total number in two app stores rising by only 0.7% year-over-year. However, what started as a stagnation became the first annual downloads drop the market has ever seen.
Last year, Android and iOS users worldwide made 142.1 billion downloads, or 1.4% less than a year before. Statistic show App Store downloads increased by 100 million year-over-year, rising from 32.1 billion in 2021 to 32.2 billion in 2022.
On the other hand, Google Play downloads plunged by a massive 2.1 billion. In 2021, Android users worldwide made 112 billion downloads. Last year, this figure dropped to 109.9 billion.
Android Market Share Increased in 2022, iOS Continues Falling
Despite the huge downloads drop, Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide. According to StatCounter data, Android controlled the mobile OS market with a 71.8% share in Q4 2022. This represents a 1.18% increase from its 70.62% market share in the same quarter a year before.
On the other hand, the iOS market share dropped in this period. In Q4 2022, iOS accounted for 27.6% of the mobile operating system market, down from 28.6% in Q4 2021.
But even with a two and a half times smaller market share, iOS continues leading the way in revenue generation for app developers. This is partly due to iPhone being more popular in regions with higher income, like the United States and Japan, where people also spend more on mobile apps.
According to Sensor Tower and TechCrunch data, iOS users spent $64.9bn on in-app purchases, premium apps, and subscriptions in the nine months of 2022, while Android users spent $31.7bn in this period.
