Mobile Spending Bounces Back in 2024, TikTok Poised for Record-Breaking Success

Consumer spend in the mobile market has rebounded in 2024, reaching $171 billion, according to the annual State of Mobile 2024 report released by data.ai. This represents a 3% year-on-year increase following a 2% dip in 2023. The report highlights that while downloads remained steady at 257 billion (+1% YoY), hours spent on mobile apps peaked at 5.1 trillion (+6% YoY). The rebound in consumer spend was primarily driven by apps, which saw an 11% YoY increase to $64 billion. Social apps and the creator economy played a crucial role in this growth, pioneering new pathways to monetization beyond traditional advertising. TikTok, in particular, surpassed $10 billion in lifetime spend through its content creator tipping mechanism. Furthermore, the report predicts that direct consumer monetization through in-app purchases in social apps is set to grow 150% to $1.3 billion in 2024 as competition intensifies. The CEO of data.ai, Theodore Krantz, emphasized the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in fueling the growth of mobile apps, stating that AI serves as the foundation for all apps, permeating every sector and paving the way for a fresh wave of digital innovation. Notably, generative AI saw explosive growth in 2023, expanding by 7x and leading to the emergence of new sectors such as AI Chatbots and Art Generators. The report also highlighted other key findings, including the projected increase in mobile ad spend to $362 billion, growth challenges for the mobile gaming industry, the rise of Chinese shopping apps in Western markets, the dominance of video in the social and entertainment sectors, the resurgence of travel-related app downloads, and the growing demand for ticketing apps. data.ai’s comprehensive report provides insights into regional and category-level market trends based on its vast database of categorized apps.