App Downloads Decline as Spending Hits $156B
An analysis of 2025 app data indicates that while overall downloads are declining, consumer spending within apps has reached $156 billion. This trend is shifting the focus for mobile startups from user acquisition to strategies centered on retention, subscriptions, and monetization.
- For the first time on a global scale, consumer spending on non-game mobile apps surpassed spending on games in 2025, reaching approximately $85 billion. - The surge in spending was significantly driven by the rapid adoption of generative AI applications, which saw revenues from in-app purchases exceed $5 billion in 2025 as downloads for the category doubled to 3.8 billion. - In the U.S. market during 2025, consumer spending climbed by 18.1% to hit $55.5 billion, even as total app downloads fell by 4.2% to 10 billion. - The fitness app market, a key growth vertical, is projected to expand from $17.81 billion in 2025 to $45.9 billion by 2029, with North America accounting for 41.1% of the market share in 2025. - Sports and entertainment venues are increasingly using location-based services for fan engagement, employing interactive maps for navigation and geofencing to deliver exclusive content to attendees within a specific area. - In gaming, geolocation is being leveraged to organize local esports tournaments and to create mixed-reality experiences that overlay digital features onto real-world environments. - The market for location-based services was valued at $56.23 billion in 2025, with location-based advertising and promotions being the fastest-growing segment. - The investment landscape saw a recovery in the first half of 2025, with North America leading by capturing 70% of global startup funding, heavily driven by nearly $90 billion invested into the U.S. AI sector.
