Of course, the 4.8 hour figure is the average. In Brazil and Indonesia, for example, consumers are approaching the 5.5 hour usage mark. South Korea is right at the five-hour mark, with Mexico, India and Japan trailing close behind.
Spending on mobile apps is even more staggering. Last year, consumers collectively shelled out $170 billion in app store purchases. That works out to over $320,000 spent each and every minute of 2021. App Annie also found that 233 apps generated more than $100 million each in spending last year. For comparison, only 38 movies brought in over $100 million at the box office in 2021. Sensor Tower in its end-of-year report last month estimated consumer spending across app stores would hit $133 billion in 2021, an increase of 19.7 percent year over year.
New app downloads reached 230 billion, a five percent increase year over year. Viewed another way, it works out to more than 435,000 apps downloaded per minute. Unsurprisingly, advertisers are taking notice. In 2021, spending on advertising reached $295 billion. If it were a country, it would be ranked #41 among the largest economies in the world. Image credit: Tim Douglas
