The global mobile application market experienced a contraction in the third quarter of 2022, signaling a shift away from the rapid growth observed in previous years. Worldwide consumer spending across the Apple App Store and Google Play declined by 4.8 percent year-over-year, totaling $31.6 billion. This downturn was accompanied by a 1 percent decrease in total app adoption, which reached 35.3 billion first-time installs. These findings, derived from proprietary store intelligence data, highlight the impact of broader economic headwinds and evolving privacy policies on the mobile ecosystem.
Revenue performance varied by platform, with Apple’s marketplace generating $21.2 billion—a 2.3 percent year-over-year decline—while Google Play experienced a more significant 9.6 percent drop to $10.4 billion. The mobile gaming sector faced even steeper challenges, with total revenue falling 12.7 percent to $19.3 billion. Despite these declines, TikTok maintained its position as the top-grossing non-game app globally, while titles such as Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, and Genshin Impact continued to lead the gaming category in revenue.
Download trends remained relatively stable compared to revenue, though they still trended downward. While Apple’s marketplace saw a 3.8 percent increase in app adoption, this was offset by a 2.2 percent decline on Google Play. Mobile game downloads remained flat at 13.7 billion for the quarter. As the industry navigates these persistent challenges, the data suggests that the mobile market is entering a period of stabilization following the exceptional performance of the 2021 fiscal year. These estimates exclude revenue from local taxes, in-app advertising, and mobile commerce transactions.
