The App Economy Forecast to Double to $101 billion by 2020

Everyone who has a job and makes money in mobile apps contributes to the overall app economy.  According to market researcher App Annie, the app economy could double to $101 billion by 2020.

This growth is driven by smartphone adoption globally resulting in increased usage of mobile apps.  Brands, app developers, agencies and investors gain predictive insights and global opportunities from App Annie in the coming 5 years.  Interestingly games generated 85% or $34.8 billion of the app market revenue in 2015, with an expected growth to $41.5 billion in 2016 and $74.6 billion in 2020.

Dig a little deeper and the forecasts predict faster growth in other categories.  Over the last few years, games and media companies dominated the apps but this is changing with developers publishing apps form every industry.  This includes industry sectors such as banks, retailers, government agencies and small businesses.  A lot of revenue and market value is being generated with the support of venture capital and hedge funds.

Above: Mobile app forecast by region.
Image Credit: App Annie

Senior vice president of App Annie, Danielle Lavits, stated that the report uncovered a variety of stats from over 10,000 sources.   The app market is projected for an increase of 24% in 2016 and overall spend will reach $51 billion (the amount consumers spend on mobile apps via stores) across all app stores.  Gross revenue is predicted to exceed $101 billion globally by 2020.

Although overall app growth revenue is generated by USA, Japan, and China, there are tremendous opportunities in emerging markets such as Mexico, Indonesia, India and Argentina.  With China overtaking the US for app store downloads in early 2015, total app revenue is expected to exceed the US ion the first half of 2016.

Growth in overall downloads from the app stores is expected to grow by 33% to 147.2 billion in 2016 and will reach an estimated 284.3 billion by 2020.  App store downloads globally is projected to grow from 111.2 billion in 2015 to 284.3 billion in 2020.