State of App Revenue 2023: Data.ai report

Data.ai has released its State of App Revenue 2023 report, which looks at advertising and in-app purchases.

Here are some interesting numbers from it:

• In 2022, non-gaming apps accounted for about $220 billion (65%) of the $336 billion spent on mobile advertising. Leading social networking and video streaming apps own and managed advertising platforms accounted for about half of all advertising spend.
• However, excluding these advertising giants, 70% of mobile advertising spend was on games. Game genres including hyper-casual and puzzle games rely on popular networks like AppLovin and Vungle to monetize their apps.
• Half of the $167 billion spent by consumers on mobile apps in 2022 came from iOS. Google Play accounted for 27% of app store spending, with third-party stores in China (where Google Play is not available) the remaining 23%.

• Nearly two-thirds of app store revenues came from mobile games. The vast majority (98%) of mobile gaming revenue came from one-time in-app purchases. On the other hand, non-gaming apps generated 71% of subscription revenue.
• From social media to mobile gaming to video streaming, leading mobile revenue-generating applications are using mixed monetization strategies. More than half of the top apps monetize their activities through ads and in-app purchases.

• Outside of the leading social media and video streaming apps, perhaps no app publisher epitomizes success in mobile advertising quite like Voodoo. In 2022, the hyper-casual app market leader generated the most ad revenue in the US across six ad platforms. However, recent privacy regulations in the advertising market have forced even such mobile advertising experts to adapt their approach. Voodoo has started collecting more revenue from in-app purchases in games like Mob Control and Collect Em All. In Mob Control, for example, there is not only the ability to remove ads, but also a season pass, coins, and other rewards.

• Most of the mobile advertising revenue comes from the United States, followed by Asia in second place and Europe third.

• In Q1 2023, almost 30% of iOS IAP spend was for subscriptions, compared to 27.6% in Q1 2022. The subscription model has shown that consumers are willing to spend money on more than just mobile games. Subscriptions account for about 70% of in-app purchase revenue for non-gaming apps.
• Non-gaming apps are seeing an increase in the share of IAP revenue in the mid-price range, from $10 to $100. Over 70% of IAP’s US non-gaming app revenue came from in-app purchases in this range. Compare these in-app purchases to just 42% of mobile gaming spend. Nearly half of all U.S. gaming IAP revenue comes from IAPs under $10. However, a significant portion of the revenue still comes from the highest priced IAP, over $100.