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Mobile Apps Surpass Games Globally In 2025 As AI Fuels Unprecedented Growth

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

January 22, 2026

In a landmark shift for the mobile industry, 2025 marked the first year that global consumer spending on non-game mobile apps exceeded that of mobile games. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported in their annual State of Mobile report that worldwide spending on apps reached approximately $85 billion, a 21% increase year-over-year and nearly 2.8 times higher than five years ago.

Generative AI Drives Revenue And User Engagement

The rapid ascendance of generative AI has been a major catalyst in this growth. Revenue from in-app purchases in the generative AI category more than tripled in 2025 to exceed $5 billion, while downloads doubled to 3.8 billion. Leading the charge were AI assistants, with top performers including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and DeepSeek. Notably, ChatGPT generated $3.4 billion in global in-app purchase revenue, underscoring its critical role in reshaping consumer behavior.

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Surge In Engagement And Session Metrics

Consumer engagement reached new heights, with users spending 48 billion hours in generative AI apps—3.6 times more than in 2024 and 10 times the volume of 2023. Session volume surpassed one trillion, indicating that existing users were deepening their interaction with these apps at a rate that outpaced new downloads. This intense engagement is reflective of how seamlessly AI is integrating into everyday mobile activities.

Big Tech Intensifies The AI Battle

Big technology players, including Google, Microsoft, and X, have significantly ramped up their investments in AI assistants to compete with ChatGPT. Their concerted efforts have led to rapid advancements in coding assistance, content generation, and multimedia capabilities. Recent upgrades such as ChatGPT’s GPT-4o image generation model and Google’s Nano Banana exemplify the transformative improvements that are driving consumer adoption.

Consolidation And Expansion In The AI Space

Among the top AI publishers, OpenAI and DeepSeek commanded nearly 50% of global downloads—a substantial increase from 21% in 2024. Concurrently, big tech publishers grew their market share from 14% to nearly 30%, effectively crowding out early ChatGPT alternatives. In addition to AI assistants, other innovative apps, including AI music generation by Suno, ByteDance’s text-to-video solution Jimeng AI, and companion apps such as Character.ai and PolyBuzz, contributed to the expanding AI ecosystem.

Mobile: The Key Connector To Generative AI Services

Sensor Tower’s report underscores the critical role of mobile platforms in mobilizing access to generative AI. In the United States alone, the total audience for AI assistants topped 200 million by year-end, with more than half (110 million) relying exclusively on mobile devices. This stark contrast to the 13 million mobile-only users in 2024 highlights a significant shift in consumer preferences and the increasing indispensability of mobile applications as conduits for innovative AI technologies.

Diverse Revenue Streams Beyond AI

While AI was the dominant revenue driver, the report also notes robust contributions from social media, video streaming, and productivity apps. In particular, social media apps commanded an average of 90 minutes of daily user engagement, culminating in nearly 2.5 trillion hours spent globally—a 5% year-over-year increase. This diversity in revenue streams underscores the resilience and dynamism inherent in the mobile app ecosystem.

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Eurobank Wins Two Euromoney Awards Following Cyprus Merger

Eurobank has been named Cyprus’ Best Bank for 2026 by Euromoney, while also receiving the award for Best Bank for Large Corporates at the publication’s latest Awards for Excellence.

Merger Marks A Milestone

The awards recognise the bank’s performance during 2025, a year marked by the completion of the legal merger between Hellenic Bank and Eurobank Cyprus. The transaction created Eurobank Limited, which the group says is now Cyprus’ largest banking and insurance organisation, with assets exceeding €28 billion.

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Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence evaluate banks’ performance over the previous calendar year, with this edition covering January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Lending, Customers And Digital Growth

Eurobank said its business lending portfolio expanded by around 17 per cent during 2025, while its customer base grew to more than 710,000 retail clients and 11,500 business customers.

The bank also continued its digital expansion, saying more than 96 per cent of transactions are now completed through digital channels, and most financing applications are submitted via its mobile app.

Expanding International Presence

Eurobank also highlighted the opening of its first representative office in India, describing the move as a step toward strengthening business links between Cyprus and India while supporting Cyprus’ role as a gateway to the European Union for Indian businesses and investors.

According to the bank, Euromoney recognised not only the successful completion of the merger but also its lending growth, digital transformation and contribution to Cyprus’ position as an international business and investment hub.

CEO On The Awards

“The Euromoney awards confirm Eurobank’s strong momentum and the successful implementation of our group’s strategy in Cyprus,” Chief Executive Michalis Louis said.

He said the merger strengthened the bank’s ability to support households, businesses and the wider economy, while highlighting continued investment in digital services and the opening of the representative office in India as key milestones during the year.