Sensor Tower APAC Awards 2025

The 2025 digital economy reached a historic inflection point: non-game app revenue overtook gaming, with total in-app purchases surging 10.6% to $167 billion. APAC publishers were the primary growth engine, contributing $2.58 billion to gaming revenue and leading in most categories. Non-game categories saw explosive growth—Short Drama apps grew 278%, AI Assistants 148%, and quick commerce app Blinkit grew 177.4% year-over-year, becoming the most downloaded app in its category globally.

In shopping, Shopee remained the top APAC-origin platform with 1.2 billion lifetime downloads, while NAVER Plus Store leveraged AI personalization to become the most downloaded new shopping app. Productivity and AI saw DeepSeek emerge as the #3 AI assistant globally with nearly 200M installs. For ad operations decision-makers, key takeaways: 1) diversifying ad inventory beyond gaming into lifestyle, commerce, and AI tools is critical to capture shifting user attention; 2) APAC publishers are setting global standards, with cross-platform hits like Delta Force succeeding across mobile, PC, and consoles; 3) the rise of super apps and AI-driven personalization creates opportunities for targeted, high-engagement ad placements; 4) emerging categories like EV carpooling, short dramas, and walking rewards apps offer new, high-growth audiences.

The data underscores a broader trend: mobile apps are becoming essential infrastructure for daily life, requiring advertisers to rethink audience segmentation and campaign strategies to align with these usage patterns.