Global Mobile Apps in September 2022: Revenue, Downloads & Advertising

With the aid of its App Intelligence and other modules, SocialPeta sorted out the top 20 global mobile apps, excluding games, by revenue, downloads, and advertising in September 2022. The analysis was intended to help mobile app professionals understand changes in the global mobile market.

The overall performance of global mobile apps in September showed three notable trends:

• Japanese app versions reported strong revenue growth, making the Japanese market look increasingly attractive.
• Shopping apps Flipkart and Amazon India Shop entered their biggest shopping season in India.
• Pinterest significantly increased its creative volume, while social apps became more aggressive in advertising.

The highest-grossing apps on the App Store remained relatively stable. The Japanese version of TikTok returned to the ranking with strong revenue performance. It recorded 65% month-over-month revenue growth in September and approximately $6.06 million in monthly Google Play revenue, securing a place in the top 20.

The American version of LINE was also new to the chart and recorded 34.9% month-over-month revenue growth. Its Japanese version, LINEマンガ, also performed strongly, with revenue increasing 37.8% month-over-month.

On Google Play, sports streaming platform DAZN reported growing revenue alongside its Serie A broadcasting business, rising 34.7% month-over-month.

Before the 2022–23 season, DAZN announced a monthly subscription price of €29.99, €10 higher than its previous subscription cost. It also implemented geo-blocking to restrict users attempting to watch DAZN outside supported service regions.

These changes coincided with a surge in subscribers and subscription revenue during the sports season, although the article also noted growing dissatisfaction among some users.

On the App Store, WhatsApp Messenger's downloads increased 32.1% month-over-month in September. Such strong growth stood out even for an app that had remained near the top of download rankings for years.

The original article speculated that the growth was related to Meta's August announcement that it would collaborate with Jio Platforms, an Indian multinational technology company, to launch grocery shopping services through WhatsApp. The collaboration was positioned as an end-to-end shopping experience within WhatsApp.

On Google Play, Flipkart and Amazon India Shop showed strong download momentum. The two e-commerce companies were described in the original article as accounting for nearly 60% of the Indian e-commerce market at the time.

Flipkart recorded approximately 6.76 million downloads in September, up 49.2% month-over-month, while Amazon India Shop recorded approximately 1.22 million downloads, up 9.6%.

Both platforms launched their biggest annual sales campaigns in September. Flipkart also introduced the interest-free installment option Flipkart Pay Later EMI.

According to the original article, Flipkart's usage rate increased by 120% on the first day of its sales campaign, with the increase mainly attributed to Flipkart Pay Later EMI.

On iOS, the largest increase in creative volume belonged to We Heart It, an image-based social network. The app recorded approximately 28,000 deduplicated creatives in September, up 324% month-over-month.

We Heart It had already shown an upward creative trend as early as June. Its newer creatives covered a wide range of content, including photography, food, and fashion. The app focused its advertising on the United States and Hong Kong, China, which together accounted for about 47% of its creatives.

Bored Panda recorded approximately 11,800 deduplicated creatives in September, up 219% month-over-month.

Founded in 2009, Bored Panda was described in the original article as an internet product combining art and popular culture. It primarily advertised in developed markets including North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Recent creatives mainly featured cute animals and distinctive architecture, with Pinterest serving as its primary advertising platform.

Pinterest also performed strongly on Android, with approximately 34,700 deduplicated creatives, up 210% month-over-month. Its lightweight version, Pinterest Lite, released approximately 31,700 creatives, up 245%.

Despite belonging to the same product family, Pinterest and Pinterest Lite differed in their advertising-platform distribution. In the year preceding the article, Pinterest placed approximately 41% of its creatives on entertainment media.

Pinterest Lite, by contrast, concentrated its advertising on education, puzzle, and arcade apps, with each category accounting for roughly 30% of its creatives according to the original analysis.

Social app Passion recorded approximately 20,200 deduplicated Android creatives in September, up 92% month-over-month. More than half of its creatives were released in India, and approximately 46% were video creatives.

During the 30-day period discussed in the original article, many of Passion's video creatives featured Indian women and dating-oriented messaging.

Another social app, Helo, recorded approximately 19,800 deduplicated Android creatives, up 58% month-over-month. Its advertising activity was concentrated mainly in Brazil and Vietnam.

The article also noted that Helo held a Google Play rating of 4.6 at the time. After being banned in India, the app continued to increase its creative distribution across Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Overall, many social apps increased their advertising investment during September, while several maintained high creative volumes for three consecutive months. The original analysis interpreted this as a signal of continued growth in the social media market.