Asia holds the fort as global mobile spending drops: report

While consumers globally spent less money on mobile in 2022 compared to the previous year, some Asian markets are still seeing an increase in spending amid the current economic downturn.

According to Data.ai’s State of Mobile 2023 report, China logged a roughly 2% increase in app spending year over year to US$58.1 billion in 2022.

Image credit: Data.ai

In terms of consumer spending, China still led globally, followed by the US and Japan. Meanwhile, Taiwan and Hong Kong both saw substantial bumps of 15% and 34%, respectively.

According to the report, about a third of global spending on mobile games was on titles from China-based companies.

Data.ai also noted that for these companies, going worldwide may be the best way to unlock further avenues of growth. Chinese tech giant Tencent bought stocks in international gaming companies such as Elden Ring maker FromSoftware and Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft last year.

“While creating adaptable and localized games is key, the increasing quality of Chinese games is evident in their ability to outperform others from gaming powerhouse like the US and South Korea,” the report read.

Photo credit: katjen / Shutterstock

In terms of online shopping, incumbents like Shopee and Lazada still dominated Southeast Asia. Shopee led in terms of monthly active users in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Lazada landed second in Vietnam and the Philippines while it placed fourth in Indonesia, behind Tokopedia and Alfa Gift.

Data.ai’s report also highlighted the rising popularity of TikTok Shop. Its merchant management platform was the most downloaded shopping app in Indonesia and Thailand last year.

TikTok Shop logged US$4.4 billion in gross merchandise volume in Southeast Asia in 2022, according to a recent report.

See also: Explaining TikTok’s ecommerce bet in Southeast Asia