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Guide for Mobile App Investments

Mobile application boom, initiated by the iPhone in 2007, significantly altered life's trajectory, reaching 5.3 billion users worldwide. As gaming, social media, and finance apps thrive, investors seek avenues to capitalize on this colossal market.

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Guide to Financially Backing Mobile Applications
Guide to Financially Backing Mobile Applications

Guide for Mobile App Investments

In the ever-evolving world of technology, the mobile app market continues to grow and thrive. The year 2024 saw a significant surge in the adoption of mobile devices and e-commerce channels, driving the growth of the mobile app market.

Top-grossing apps in 2024 were predominantly from the Games category, with Strategy, RPG/gacha, Casual/Puzzle, and Casino/Card subgenres leading the way. Titles like Honor of Kings, Genshin Impact, MONOPOLY GO!, and various casino games were among the top earners, highlighting China's outsized spending and the continuing strength of gacha/LiveOps monetization models.

On the other hand, Social apps, led by short-form video apps like TikTok, were the most downloaded apps globally. TikTok, in fact, was the single most downloaded app in 2024. Social/messaging apps occupied many of the top download slots.

Within the Games category, Simulation and Puzzle were the most downloaded mobile game genres in 2024, each capturing roughly 20% of total game downloads. Arcade (platformer/runner) games were also highly downloaded, with Subway Surfers and similar titles driving these figures.

For investors seeking diversification, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as The Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (ARCA:GAMR), ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF (ARCA:IPAY), First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (ARCA:FDN), KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (ARCA:KWEB), PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio ETF (NASDAQ:PNQI), and Emerging Markets Internet & eCommerce ETF (ARCA:EMQQ) offer exposure to mobile apps.

It's worth noting that the average American engages with their phone every 5.5 minutes, with 88 percent of that time spent on mobile apps. As of 2021, there were approximately 2.87 million apps in the Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Play Store and around 1.96 million apps available in the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store.

Looking forward, 2024 also saw predictions that TikTok's consumer spending figure would reach US$15 billion in 2024. Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and media-based social platforms are expected to experience significant user growth in the coming years.

The mobile app market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% from 2024 to 2030, reaching a value of US$567.19 billion by 2030. Gen Z (ages 10-25) represents nearly 40 percent of mobile app users, with the majority of their usage focused on video content.

In terms of revenue, four of the top-grossing apps in the App Store in the US as of January 2024 were gaming apps. Gaming apps account for 13.8 percent of the most-downloaded apps in the Google Play Store and 12.68 percent in the App Store.

For real-time news updates on the mobile app market, follow @our organization_Technology. Investors may also find stocks like PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Block (NYSE:SQ) (formerly Square), and Mogo (TSX:MOGO) in the fintech sector, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) in the social media sector, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Tencent Holdings (OTC Pink:TCEHY, HKEX:0700), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), and Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) in the mobile gaming sector worth their attention.

This article is an updated version of an article first published by the platform in 2015.

[1] Sensor Tower (2024). [Top Mobile Game Apps by Downloads and Revenue in 2024] [2] App Annie (2024). [The State of Mobile 2024: Mobile App Downloads and Revenue] [3] Newzoo (2024). [Mobile Games Market Report 2024] [4] Appfigures (2024). [Mobile App Store Rankings 2024] [5] AppMagic (2024). [Top Grossing Apps and Games 2024]

  1. The surge in mobile device and e-commerce adoption in 2024 highlighted the growth of the mobile app market, with the Games category dominating the top-grossing apps.
  2. Social apps, specifically TikTok, were the most downloaded globally in 2024, while Simulation and Puzzle were the most downloaded mobile game genres.
  3. For investors seeking diversification, ETFs focused on video game tech, mobile payments, internet, and emerging markets internet & e-commerce offer exposure to the mobile app market.
  4. The average American spends approximately 88 percent of their phone time on mobile apps, with approximately 2.87 million apps available in the Google Play Store and 1.96 million in the Apple App Store as of 2021.
  5. TikTok's consumer spending figure was predicted to reach US$15 billion in 2024, and AI chatbots and media-based social platforms are expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
  6. The mobile app market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% from 2024 to 2030, reaching a value of US$567.19 billion by 2030, with Gen Z representing nearly 40 percent of mobile app users.
  7. In terms of revenue, gaming apps account for a significant portion of both downloads and top-grossing apps in both the Google Play Store and the App Store, making them worth investors' attention. Additionally, stocks in the fintech, social media, mobile gaming, and technology sectors may also be of interest to investors following the mobile app market.

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