The average in-app spending of iPhone users in the U.S. grew 38% to $138 last year

According to the latest data from Sensor Tower, an app store intelligence company , the average spending of iPhone users in the United States on apps last year was $138, a year-on-year increase of 38% ↓

( Average in-app spending by iPhone users in the United States from 2015 to 2020 )

This was largely driven by the pandemic, as consumers increased their use of apps related to work, school, entertainment and shopping in 2020 following the outbreak, leading to a new record for spending per user and the largest annual increase since 2016.

However, Sensor Tower predicts that in-app spending among US iPhone users will continue to grow by 2021, when the average consumer spending on a single iPhone will reach $180.

In addition to games, the category of applications that users spend the most is entertainment applications. With the cancellation of offline performances of theaters and concerts during the epidemic, consumers began to use streaming applications in large numbers, resulting in average device spending of this type of application reaching US$10.2, an increase of 26% from 2019, which is a huge leap compared to the 1% increase from 2018 to 2019 ↓

( Top 5 categories for average in-app spending by iPhone users in the U.S. )

In-app spending in other categories, including social media, also increased to varying degrees. The largest increase was in photo and video applications, with average in-app spending of $9.8, up 56%; followed by social networks, with average in-app spending of $7.9, up 41%.

Such a significant growth in social media is certainly inseparable from the promotion of top applications such as TikTok, YouTube and Twitch . Data shows that Twitch's revenue on iPhone in the United States in 2020 increased by 680% year-on-year, and TikTok increased by 140%.

Overall, the reason for the significant increase in in-app spending among US iPhone users in 2020 is not necessarily due to which apps people choose to use, but rather how often they use those apps and how much they spend.

However, it is worth noting that the average in-app spending of iPhone users in the United States has been growing at a rate of no less than 20%, and this trend will be difficult to change. The ongoing epidemic is far from disappearing, so people have to continue to abide by the social isolation policy under the epidemic prevention and control. However, as the epidemic improves, the growth of in-app spending in 2021 will definitely not be as significant as in 2020.

US Users

iPhone in-app spending