Mobile ad spending grew 23% year-over-year in 2021 to $295 billion, according to App Annie's State of Mobile 2022 report. The analytics firm predicts mobile ad spending will reach $350 billion by the end of the year, driven by pandemic-induced changes to user habits.
Global consumers spent 3.8 trillion hours on mobile devices in 2021, 70% of which were spent on social apps and photos or videos. Vibrant social video platforms TikTok and Facebook led the pack in average monthly hours per user, with each user spending a combined 19.6 hours last year.
Meanwhile, consumer spending on app stores grew by $191 billion in 2021 to $170 billion. Downloads also increased last year, up $51 billion from 2020 levels, as mobile users downloaded 230 billion apps worldwide. TikTok ranked as the most downloaded app globally, followed by Instagram and Facebook.
Insight:
People are spending more time than ever on mobile apps, in mobile-first markets like Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea, users spend an average of 4.8 hours/day on mobile.
Advertisers are taking note of the wide reach that apps can provide, spending 23% more on mobile ads than in 2020, despite concerns around Apple’s privacy changes and mobile settlement. App Annie predicts this year will continue on a similar trajectory, blowing past records for mobile ad spend, downloads, and time spent in apps.
The average American watches 3.1 hours of TV per day, according to App Annie, but spent 4.1 hours on mobile devices across sites ranging from streaming to social media in 2021. The report’s findings echo a recent statistic that TikTok surpassed Google as the world’s most visited website, suggesting it could maintain its momentum as consumers shift their media preferences to shorter-form vertical content.
The report found that increased time spent on apps has had a direct impact on consumer spending. In the U.S. and elsewhere, the persistent pandemic continues to force more people to shop, work, stream, play, and connect from home, driving significant growth in mobile downloads and spending.
Meanwhile, interest in the metaverse has driven 160% YoY growth in top apps, according to App Annie. It’s a trendy but fresh topic that brands like Procter & Gamble, Nike, and Coca-Cola have raced to explore—even though just 38% of global consumers are familiar with the technology, according to a September report from Wunderman Thompson Intelligence.
