Lumentum Holdings Rides AI Wave With Order Book Filled Through 2028 
Elon Musk Ties SpaceX IPO Access to Mandatory Grok AI Subscriptions 
U.S. Disrupts Russian Military Hackers' Global DNS Hijacking Network 
Britain Courts Anthropic Amid US Defense Department Dispute 
MATCH Act Targets ASML and Chinese Chipmakers in New U.S. Export Crackdown 
Anthropic Fights Pentagon Blacklisting in Dual Federal Court Battles 
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Posts Strong Q3 Earnings, Announces AI-Driven Job Cuts 
Apple's Foldable iPhone Faces Engineering Setbacks, Mass Production Timeline at Risk 
Rubio Directs U.S. Diplomats to Use X and Military Psyops to Counter Foreign Propaganda 
OpenAI Addresses Security Vulnerability in macOS App Certification Process 
SanDisk Joins Nasdaq-100, Replacing Atlassian on April 20 
Samsung Electronics Posts Eightfold Profit Surge Driven by AI Chip Demand 
TSMC Japan's Second Fab to Produce 3nm Chips by 2028 
Anthropic's Mythos AI Model Sparks Emergency Cybersecurity Meeting With Top U.S. Bank CEOs 
NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey 
According to data.ai's most recent annual report, ByteDance's TikTok became the first app to cross $10 billion (€9.14 billion) in cumulative consumer spending, propelling mobile app sales to a new high in a year when revenue from games fell.
TikTok, Disney+ Outperformed Gaming In Record Year For Mobile Apps
TikTok's in-app credit purchases, which can be used to tip favored creators and live streamers, accounted for the majority of its revenue and "unlocked the secret to monetization on mobile," according to the market researchers, whose services are used by many of the world's biggest brands to track the performance of their mobile apps and ads, as per Irish Examiner.
“Social apps and the creator economy pioneered new pathways to monetization beyond advertising,” Lexi Sydow, director of corporate marketing and insights at data.ai, stated. "In 2024, direct consumer monetization in social apps through in-app purchases is set to grow 150% to $1.3bn (€1.19bn) as competition ramps up.”
Consumer spending on streaming, user-generated content, and dating apps increased more than on gaming. However, advertising remained the primary revenue driver, rising 8% in 2023 to $362 billion (€330.8 billion) and accounting for two-thirds of mobile sales.
As a result, the competition to capture and hold consumer attention is critical, with data.ai estimating that global mobile ad spending will reach $402 billion (€367.3 billion) by 2024. Consumers spend more time on cell phones again, with Indonesia leading the way with more than six hours per person every day.
The top ten markets averaged five hours of daily app usage, with app spending increasing by 3% in 2023. South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey all saw a 25% or more rise in consumer app expenditure this year, according to data.ai.
Shein, a Chinese cheap shopping hit, and PDD Holdings Inc's Temu jumped 140% in the download rankings, with Temu leading downloads in 125 areas.
Travel and Ticketing Boom Post-Pandemic, Generative AI Drives Digital Innovation Surge
In other news, the travel and ticketing industries experienced a surge in popularity and spending following the pandemic, as demand for in-person events and experiences increased dramatically. Artificial intelligence has become a crucial channel for recruiting new users, with generative AI growing sevenfold and different sub-segments emerging around AI chatbots and art generators, according to Bloomberg.
By late 2023, consumer spending on generative AI apps had topped $10 million per month. "This AI growth also fueled embedded features across virtually all mobile sectors, paving the way for a fresh wave of digital innovation," according to the report released by data.ai.
Photo: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash
