App Store pulled in a massive $19 billion in Q3, nearly double Google Play

By

App Store graphic
The App Store is a massive economic engine in its own right.
Photo: Apple

Despite far fewer installs than the Google Play app store, Apple’s iOS App Store raked in $19 billion to Google’s $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020, according to a new report by Sensor Tower.

Overall spending grew 32 percent in the quarter across both platforms. Meanwhile, overall installs increased 23.3 percent to a total of 36.5 billion. These record-breaking numbers likely had a lot to do with the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down large parts of the economy, but caused a spike in interest for developers while people were stuck home.

The top-earning app globally was, perhaps unsurprisingly, TikTok, which has continued to top the charts month after month. (Despite being banned in India, and its recent challenges in the U.S., where President Trump has threatened it with a ban.) Consumer spending on the app grew 800 percent year-on-year compared to 2019’s third quarter. YouTube, Tinder, Tencent Video, and Disney+ rounded out the top five in terms of consumer spending.

Top of the App Store Q3 2020

Meanwhile, Tencent’s Honor of Kings/Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile/Game for Peace (referring to both the Chinese localized and international versions) were the top two highest-grossing games overall.

Games in the App Store generated $12.4 billion from in-app spending. Games on Google Play, meanwhile, pulled in $8.5 billion during the same period. Pokémon GO, which has proven to be an evergreen hit, was the number three top-earning game across the App Store and Google Play. Its revenue increased 33 percent next to Q3 2019. It recently passed its fourth anniversary with $3.6 billion in lifetime player spending.

All of this is, of course, great news for Apple. While Apple hasn’t revealed how much it makes from the App Store (the likes of Neil Cybart of Above Avalon have suggested it’s significantly less than you think), it’s still another positive data point to reinforce the premium image of iOS. Put simply: iOS customers, on average, spend far more than Android users.

Apple has said that it will provide its overall Q3 earnings on October 29. That should give some indication of how Apple’s overall Services business is doing.

Source: Sensor Tower

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.