Global app market to reach $6.3 trillion by 2021

App Annie is predicting app usage to reach more than 3 trillion hours by 2021 (specifically 3.5 trillion hours), which suggests that app use on smartphones is continuing to steadily rise. More than just an increase in the amount of hours spent on smartphones interacting with applications though, the amount of the global app economy is expected to rise as well, with App Annie predicting that the global app economy will move up to $6.3 trillion in 2021 from the $1.3 trillion that was recorded for the global app economy last year.

The rise in economy and the rise in hours spent using and engaging with apps looks to be stemming from the increase in users, which according to App Annie will be jumping up to 6.3 trillion users in 2021, which is basically like each user spending $1 on their apps during that year. The two largest markets in the global app economy are the US and China, with China expected to be the larger portion of the two regions in 2021 and its users expected to have a total of 672 billion hours spent within apps. Users in China are also reportedly more likely to use their mobile devices for grocery shopping and transferring money as well as taking any leftover disposal income and putting it towards mobile-based purchases compared to users in the US.

That said, US mobile device users are expected to increase the amount of money they spend on mobile apps and commerce steadily over the next five years, with total mobile commerce spend per user in 2021 estimated to reach $2,012, which is up from the recorded amount of $613 last year and is listed as a 228 percent lift in spending. In regards to app stores, the Apple App Store is predicted to be the largest single location for downloading apps in 2021, but the combined sizes of the Play Store and third-party app stores for Android are expected to surpass the Apple App Store this year. Of the total $6.3 trillion in spending for the global app economy Games are reported to hold their position as the largest portion of that spending between now and 2021, as App Annie predicts that games revenue will jump up to $105 billion in 2021, which is up from $50 billion in 2016.