Table of contents:
- Differences according to geographical areas
- Android vs. iOS
- Advertising and integrated shopping, increasingly important
- And what is the spending on games?
Although mobile application developers receive more and more income from in-app purchases, 95% of users do not purchase any expansion and no extras to get more out of the product. The free content model is still the most widespread among mobile owners, who in most cases still prefer in-app advertising or free versions (even if they offer fewer options or functions).
These are some of the conclusions that appear in the study The State of In-App Spending carried out by AppsFlyer.
Differences according to geographical areas
Although AppsFlyer has detected some common characteristics around the world, there are certain peculiarities unique to some geographical sector, since the adoption of smartphones and the mobile application market differs slightly between countries.
Thus, for example, it has been found that the North American market is the most important in terms of in-app purchases. Specifically, the average is set at about $ 2.68 per user and app (up to 2.5 times what app users spend in Europe). The Latin American market, on the other hand, is characterized by constant growth in recent months, and is considered an interesting sector to invest in.
Android vs. iOS
Another interesting fact is that iOS users seem more willing to spend money on in-app purchases than Android users. While 4.6% of Android users invest in this type of purchase, in the case of iOS the figure stands at 7.1% of users. Also the invested amounts are up to 2.5 higher in iOS, as can be seen in the graph.
As a curiosity, it should also be mentioned that Android users stand out for their interest in utility applications (antivirus, RAM optimizers, etc.)
Advertising and integrated shopping, increasingly important
As can be seen in the following graph, since 2011 the importance of advertising (in light blue) and in-app purchases (in dark blue) has progressively increased as sources of income for application developers. While at the beginning the key was in applications with all paid content, users have been evolving and clearly showing their interest in free downloads, accepting advertising or paying later to obtain extras or improvements through in- app purchases.
The study was carried out between the months of April and May 2016 and a total value of 300 million dollars (about 270 million euros) has been taken into account in more than 1000 applications, carried out by more than 100 million users.
And what is the spending on games?
The market for mobile games looks radically different from shopping in general, but it also has some very interesting characteristics. It has been found that only 3.5% of gamers spend money through in- app purchases, but those who do spend up to 30 times more money than the average: more than $ 9 per month per application compared to the average of 0, $ 32.
