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Smartphone users spent 3.8 trillion hours on mobile in 2021

Users in India spent an average of 4.7 hours on mobile devices daily in 2021, according to a new report by data and analytics platform App Annie

The year 2021 was record-breaking as consumers continued to embrace a mobile lifestyle. In the top 10 mobile markets around the world, a staggering 4.8 hours a day were spent on mobile.
The year 2021 was record-breaking as consumers continued to embrace a mobile lifestyle. In the top 10 mobile markets around the world, a staggering 4.8 hours a day were spent on mobile. (AP)

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Are we slowly moving away from big screens? According to the latest State of Mobile report from mobile app data and analytics platform App Annie, that just might be the case. The year 2021 was record-breaking as consumers continued to embrace a mobile lifestyle. In the top 10 mobile markets around the world, a staggering 4.8 hours a day were spent on mobile, according to the State of Mobile 2022 report. In all, consumers spent a total of 3.8 trillion hours on mobile devices last year.

That accounts for one-third of a person’s daily waking hours. “Mobile is the greatest of all time and the go-to device of the future,” Theodore Krantz, CEO of App Annie, says in a release. “The big screen is slowly dying as mobile continues to break records in virtually every category - time spent, downloads and revenue.”

Also read: How much time have Indians spent on phones during the pandemic?

According to Krantz, Mobile brings people closer together, whether virtually or in person. “The future will be based on an immersive entertainment experience you create. You won’t watch movies, you’ll star in them,” he adds.

The pandemic’s impact – over the last two years – on how users interact and spend time on their smartphones is quite clear now. Here’s a look at some other key findings from the report.

2 million: Publishers around the world released 2 million new apps and games. This brings the total of apps and games ever released on iOS and Google Play to over 21 million. Google Play accounted for 77% of all apps and games releases in 2021, the report adds. Across both iOS and Google Play, games represented 15% of all new releases last year.

4.7 hours: Indians spent approximately an average of 4.7 hours on mobile daily in 2021. That’s a steady increase since 2019 (3.7 hours per day) and 2020 (4.5 hours per day). Meanwhile, users in Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea surpassed 5 hours per day on mobile apps last year.

230 billion: Last year saw 230 billion new app downloads, a 5% year-on-year growth. Essentially, more than 435,000 apps were downloaded per minute in 2021.

Not just time, but money as well: Consumers migrated not just their attention, but wallets to mobile as over $320,000 were spent on app stores every minute in 2021. That’s an increase of nearly 20% from previous records in 2020. The total app store spend for 2021 was pegged at $170 billion.

Mobile gaming grew to $116 billion, as an additional $16 billion was added in gaming consumer spend in 2021, fuelled primarily by a preference for hyper-casual games.
Mobile gaming grew to $116 billion, as an additional $16 billion was added in gaming consumer spend in 2021, fuelled primarily by a preference for hyper-casual games. (HT_PRINT)

$116 billion: Mobile gaming grew to $116 billion, as an additional $16 billion was added in gaming consumer spend in 2021, fuelled primarily by a preference for hyper-casual games. Hyper-casual games such as ‘Bridge Race’ and ‘Hair Challenge’ were key downloads drivers, but 2021 saw some well known titles such as ‘Pokémon UNITE’, and ‘PUBG: NEW STATE’ making major gains in downloads and usage, the report adds.

Consumers spent on dating apps: Worldwide consumer spending on dating apps surged past $4.2 billion in 2021, a 55% increase from 2019. This growth in consumer spend was primarily driven by the US, Japan, the UK and China. Interestingly, India is one region that saw declining consumer spend on dating apps, although it is still up 18% since 2018.

Add to cart: Mobile shopping trends visible since the beginning of the pandemic continued as time spent on shopping apps reached 100 billion hours in 2021, up by 18% year over year. This increase was led by fast fashion, social shopping, and big-box players.

Also read: Mobile internet speeds in India one of the slowest globally

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