Over a decade after Apple (AAPL 1.82%) launched the App Store, the growth days still aren't over. Overall mobile consumer spending in the third quarter jumped 23% to hit $17.9 billion, according to new estimates released this week from mobile-analytics specialist Sensor Tower. That spending includes revenue from upfront purchases, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
Expectedly, Apple again beat out Google Play in terms of monetization, even as the Alphabet (GOOG 1.75%) (GOOGL 1.68%) subsidiary enjoyed far greater smartphone market share.

Image source: Apple.
More revenue on fewer downloads
The App Store brought in gross revenue of $14.2 billion in the third quarter, up from $11.6 billion a year ago. In comparison, Google Play revenue grew 24% to $7.7 billion. In other words, Apple represented roughly 65% of all spending on mobile platforms, with Google representing the other 35%, despite the fact that it powers over 75% of all mobile devices globally, according to StatCounter.
Furthermore, Google Play enjoyed almost three times as many first-time app installs in the third quarter compared to Apple, again underscoring how much weaker monetization is on Android. The search-giant's platform is more popular in emerging markets where consumers have less discretionary income.
Metric |
App Store |
Google Play |
---|---|---|
Revenue |
$14.2 billion |
$7.7 billion |
App downloads |
8 billion |
21.6 billion |
Data source: Sensor Tower.
Note that Sensor Tower's estimates represent gross revenue, while Apple and Google only recognize the net revenue they receive as commission in their financial accounting. Both companies take a 30% cut of digital sales including in-app purchases, while that cut drops to 15% for long-term subscriptions. Apple includes App Store results in its services business, while Google Play is aggregated within Google's other revenues. Neither company has reported third-quarter results yet.
Games are the bulk of spending
Mobile gaming continues to be incredibly important to the industry, accounting for an overwhelming 74% of spending. That's down modestly from the 76% share of mobile spending that games represented a year ago.
Apple users opened their wallets more for mobile gaming than their Android counterparts, with the App Store generating $9.8 billion in revenue from that category. Google Play brought in $6.5 billion from games, according to Sensor Tower's data. Google Play saw roughly 8.7 billion mobile-game downloads, towering over the App Store's 2.4 billion mobile-game downloads.
Metric |
App Store |
Google Play |
---|---|---|
Mobile gaming revenue |
$9.8 billion |
$6.5 billion |
Mobile gaming downloads |
2.4 billion |
8.7 billion |
Data source: Sensor Tower.
Apple has always enjoyed a significant advantage over Google in terms of app monetization, which the Mac maker likes to frequently point out to developers. The company has paid out a cumulative $120 billion to developers since the App Store launched in 2008.