tech
January 21, 2026
Consumers spent more on mobile apps than games in 2025, driven by AI app adoption
Consumers spent more money in mobile apps than games in 2025, driven by AI app adoption.
TL;DR
- Global consumer spending on non-game mobile apps exceeded spending on games in 2025 for the first time.
- Total worldwide app spending reached $85 billion in 2025, a 21% increase year-over-year.
- Generative AI apps saw revenue more than triple to over $5 billion, with downloads doubling to 3.8 billion.
- AI assistants, including ChatGPT and Google Gemini, dominated downloads, with ChatGPT alone generating $3.4 billion in IAP revenue.
- Time spent in generative AI apps increased significantly, reaching 48 billion hours in 2025.
- Big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and X are heavily investing in their AI assistants.
- OpenAI and DeepSeek led in global AI app downloads, while big tech publishers increased their market share.
- Mobile devices are crucial for accessing generative AI services, with over half of U.S. AI assistant users accessing them exclusively on mobile.
- Other popular AI apps include Suno, Jimeng AI, Character.ai, and PolyBuzz.
- Social media, video streaming, and productivity apps also contributed to overall app spending growth.