Consumers spent 3.8 trillion hours on mobile devices in 2021, according to App Annie’s “State of Mobile 2022” report. App Annie is a mobile data and analytics company.
In the top 10 mobile markets, consumers were on their mobile devices 4.8 hours daily. They were spending money as they were doing this: The firm said that consumers spent $170 billion on apps, which was a 19% increase over the previous year. There were 230 billion downloads, which continued a 5% per year growth trend.
Hours Spent on Mobile
Other highlights from the report:
- Publishers released 2 million apps and games, bringing the cumulative total to 21 million.
- Advertising spend topped $295 billion, up 23% year over year. It is estimated to top $350 billion next year.
- Mobile gaming grew to $116 billion, an increase of 15%.
- Apps that earn more than $100 million in consumer spend grew by 20%.
- Led by TikTok (which had an increase of 90% globally outside of China), 7 of every 10 minutes was spent on either social, photo and/or video apps.
- Worldwide consumer spend on dating apps surged past $4.2 billion. This was a 55% increase compared to 2019.
- Time spent in shopping apps reached 100 billion hours, up by 18% year over year. It was led by fast fashion, social shopping and big box players.
- Food and drink apps hit a milestone of 194 billion sessions in 2021 (up 50% year over year).
- Metaverse catapults leading avatar apps forward with 160% year-over-year growth.
“Mobile brings us closer together whether virtual or in person,” App Annie CEO Theodore Krantz said in a press release. “The future will be based on an immersive entertainment experience you create. You won’t watch movies, you’ll star in them.”