GenAI apps generate $1 billion-plus in revenueGenAI apps generate $1 billion-plus in revenue

As a result, in commentary accompanying its annual State of Mobile report, Sensor Tower declared that AI apps can now be considered to have gone mainstream. Industry hype already suggested as much, but it's good to have the data to back up the noise.

Specifically, the report shows that global in-app purchase revenue for AI chatbots and AI art generators came in at $1.27 billion in 2024, up from $455 million the previous year and $30 million in 2022, when ChatGPT was released.

The growth pattern in GenAI downloads was similar. Downloads rocketed to 1.49 billion last year, up from 777 million and 119 million in 2023 and 2022 respectively.

Much of the growth is coming from the US. IAP revenues came in at $558 million across the pond last year – that's 45% of the global total – while downloads numbered 200 million.

The UK ranks second, albeit at some distance, accounting for 4% of IAP revenues in GenAI, followed by Germany also with 4%, and Japan and Canada at 3%.

But even with such a phenomenal growth rate to date, the GenAI segment remains fairly small fry in relative terms. It sits in a global mobile app market that generated IAP revenue of $150 billion last year, a milestone it hit for the first time on the back of a 13% year-on-year growth rate, its highest since 2021.

The US is the leader of the pack in the overall market too, generating IAP revenues of $52 billion, up 16% on-year, or more than one third of the worldwide total. However, growth in Europe was higher at 24%, driven by increases in the big markets of the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

Film and TV streaming apps lead the way with IAP revenue of almost $12 billion last year, the top performer in that category being Disney+, closely followed by social media apps, led by TikTok. Dating apps generated $5.3 billion in IAP revenue, with Tinder proving the biggest draw. AI chatbots ranked 14^th.

AI chatbots "stole the show," Sensor Tower said, putting consumer spending on apps such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and China's Doubao at almost $1.1 billion last year, up by 200%. That growth rate could "catapult the subgenre into the top ten by consumer spending within just a year," the firm said.

The time spent on overall GenAI apps, including market leader ChatGPT, came in at 7.7 billion hours in 2024. Meanwhile, apps mentioning AI were downloaded 17 billion times, "emphasizing the growing appetite among consumers for AI features at their fingertips," Sensor Tower said.

Little wonder then that app makers are moving quickly to add AI features into their offers.

"As we look ahead, we expect to see more apps experiment with AI, finding novel and creative ways of incorporating the technology," said Oliver Yeh, CEO and cofounder of Sensor Tower.

Those AI growth figures are clearly only going one way.