At a Glance
- Non-game mobile apps outsold games globally for the first time in 2025
- Generative AI apps drove the shift, topping $5 billion in IAP revenue
- ChatGPT alone pulled in $3.4 billion from in-app purchases
- Why it matters: Mobile is now the dominant gateway to AI, with 110 million U.S. users mobile-only
For the first time ever, consumers worldwide spent more on non-game mobile apps than on games during 2025, according to Sensor Tower’s annual “State of Mobile” report. Global consumer spending on apps hit roughly $85 billion, a 21% jump from 2024 and nearly 2.8× the level seen five years ago.
AI Apps Fuel the Flip
Generative AI led the charge. In-app purchase revenue in this category more than tripled to surpass $5 billion last year. Downloads doubled to 3.8 billion as consumers flocked to AI assistants.
Every app in the top 10 by downloads was an AI assistant:
- ChatGPT – $3.4 billion in global IAP revenue
- Google Gemini
- DeepSeek
Users devoted 48 billion hours to generative AI apps in 2025, 3.6× the 2024 total and 10× the 2023 figure. Session volume crossed the one trillion mark, climbing faster than downloads and signaling deeper engagement from existing users.
Big Tech Piles In
Google, Microsoft, and X poured resources into their AI assistants, rolling out rapid-fire upgrades in coding help, content creation, reasoning, and media generation. Notable launches included:
- ChatGPT’s GPT-4o image generation model (March 2025)
- Google’s Nano Banana
Market share shifted accordingly:
| Publisher Group | 2024 Share | 2025 Share |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI + DeepSeek | 21% | ~50% |
| Big Tech (Google, Microsoft, X) | 14% | ~30% |
| Early rivals (Nova, Codeway, Chat Smith) | Shrinking | Crowded out |
Mobile Becomes the AI Highway
Sensor Tower estimates the total U.S. audience for AI assistants exceeded 200 million by year-end, with 110 million accessing services only on mobile. In 2024, just 13 million users were mobile-only.
Beyond assistants, breakout AI apps included:
- Suno – AI music generation
- Jimeng AI – ByteDance’s text-to-video tool
- Character.ai & PolyBuzz – AI companions
Social and Productivity Apps Add Fuel
AI wasn’t the sole growth engine. Social media, video streaming, and productivity apps also contributed. Consumers averaged 90 minutes daily on social apps, totaling nearly 2.5 trillion hours-a 5% year-over-year increase.
Robert K. Lawson reported these findings for News Of Philadelphia.
