Australians spent more time on mobiles last year thanks to TikTok
Consumers spent 3.8 trillion hours on mobile devices in 2021, according to App Annie.
“We expect 2022 to blow past records in a transformed economy reliant on digital socialization, hybrid work and entertainment,” it said in a new State Of Mobile 2022 Report.
Australians spent 3.9 hours a day on devices, up from 3.2 hours in 2020 and 2.9 hours in 2019.
In comparison, TV watching was an average of 2.4 hours a day, a rise of 1.4% from the year before, said IBISWorld.
Australia was 13th in the world ranking for mobile & app engagement.
Brazil and Indonesia tied with 5.4 hours a day, followed by South Korea at five hours.
“Mobile is the greatest of all time and the go-to device of the future,” App Annie’s CEO Theodore Krantz said. “The big screen is slowly dying as mobile continues to break records in virtually every category – time spent, downloads and revenue.”
2021 saw over 232 billion global downloads (up 5%), US$168 billion in consumer spending and app store spend was up 19% YoY to $170 billion with daily time per user up 30% to 4.8 hours.
233 apps had over $100 million spend, a growth of 20%. 13 of them surpassed $1 billion.
Seven out of every 10 minutes on mobile was spent on social and photo and video apps.
TikTok was the global star, with growth rates as high as 75% in some countries.
“It is notable that TikTok has seen the greatest in depth of engagement over four years and had a standout year in 2021, off the back of an already record-breaking 2020,” the report noted.
In Australia, Tik Tok’s had the highest growth in monthly hours, up to 23.4 hours from 16.8 hours.
It was the third most downloaded after Service Victoria and Service NSW.
Global gaming fans spent an extra $16 billion, bringing the total to $116 billion.
Australian mobile game consumer spend growth was $1.42 billion, up from $0.17 billion.
Growth in downloads was $0.29 billion.
The most downloaded gaming app in AUstralia was ROBLOX, which was second in consumer spend after Lightning Link Casino, and third for MAUs after Location RPG and Mafia/Betrayal.
Metaverse interest “catapulted” with avatar apps up 160% YoY. Social networking, shopping and fitness apps also had growth internationally.
“Mobile brings us closer together whether virtual or in person,” Krantz said.
“The future will be based on an immersive entertainment experience you create.
“You won’t watch movies, you’ll star in them.”