14 DAY TRIAL // New data shared by Sensor Tower indicates that the average iPhone user spent no less than $138 on in-app purchases in 2020, an increase of no less than 38 percent from the previous year.
Back in 2018, the average annual in-app spending per active iPhone in the country was $79, then jumping 27 percent to reach $100 in 2020.
The reason for the growth is as simple as it could be: people spent more time at home and given the theaters, cinemas, and everything else were closed due to the lockdown, buying digital content was the next option.
Games, however, continued to remain the leading category in the App Store in terms of in-app spending in 2020, according to Sensor Tower.
“Per-device spending in mobile games saw explosive growth in 2020, leaping from $53.80 in 2019 to $76.80. This represents Y/Y growth of 43 percent, more than 20 points higher than the 22 percent Y/Y growth seen in 2019 when in-game spending climbed from $44,” the analysis reads.
Spending likely to grow
The entertainment category has obviously recorded an important boost of 26 percent in terms of in app-purchases, though it’s still far from the games section.
“Along with games, per-iPhone spending in Entertainment category apps boomed during the pandemic. With the shutdown of in-person spaces such as movie theaters, many consumers turned to streaming services such as Disney+ for content. Average per-device spending in this category was the second highest in our analysis at $10.20, an increase of 26 percent over the $8.10 spent in 2019. In comparison, per-device spending in this category grew just 1 percent between 2018 and 2019,” Sensor Tower notes.
The research notes that the spending is likely to continue to grow in 2021 as well, especially as the global health issue is yet to come to an end.