📈Chartpack: The mobile app economy Q1 2024

Revenue, downloads and other mobile app metrics you need to know

🔒Chartpacks are in-depth analysis of the data and trends you need to help you make stronger strategic decisions. If you’d like to upgrade to receive them you can do so below. Or you can find out more about paid access here.

---

Hi product people 👋,

With new AI hardware devices on the horizon which test the assumptions of using apps at all, we may be on the brink of entirely new ways of interacting with products through our mobile devices. Rabbit’s Operating System, for example, uses a large action model (LAM) to learn how to perform the actions you want to take and does them for you, removing the need to use apps in the traditional sense.

But despite recent developments, we’re still a long way from anyone loosening iOS and Android’s grip on the way we use our mobiles. And whether you work on a mobile product or not, it’s helpful to keep up to date with the relevant trends impacting the mobile app economy. 

In this Chartpack we’ll explore some of the most useful economic trends and metrics worth knowing about mobile apps in 2024 so that if you and your team are considering building your own mobile app - or you’re crafting a strategy for an existing set of mobile products - you’re fully up to date with relevant data you need.

Coming up:

• Top mobile app markets: a global comparison

• Consumer spend by category

• Monetization and YoY growth

• Finance and payment apps: how customers are using apps for payments

• Trends and predictions to stay on top of in 2024

---

Department of Product: Chartpacks

Top mobile app markets: a global perspective

South East Asian countries continue to dominate the mobile app landscape when measured by the number of average daily hours spent on a mobile device per user. Indonesia remains the number one country in the world for this, with users spending over 6 hours a day on mobile devices. 

Across the top 10 markets, the weighted average was over 5 hours in 2023, up 6% from 2022 to reach new highs. Some of the fastest growing countries include Japan, Australia and Canada with growth of 18%, 16% and 16% respectively. 

If you’re planning international expansions for your product, it’s worth bearing these numbers in mind. Time spent online may be a proxy for estimating potential usage for your own product, but of course this depends on your product’s category.

Looking at app downloads though, Indonesia drops from 1 to 5. China takes the top spot, significantly outperforming India and the US, with over 110 billion app downloads a year - with the number continuing to grow YoY, too. China is a massive market for mobile apps. 

But what are users downloading?