India is starting to pay for apps, not just download them
India is starting to pay for apps, not just download them
印度开始为应用付费，而不仅仅是下载
For years, India was the world’s largest app download market but one of its toughest places to make money. That is beginning to change as Indian consumers spend more on AI, entertainment, and other premium apps. India’s mobile app market generated a record $345 million in consumer spending during the second quarter of this year, up 35% from a year earlier, according to a new report by Sensor Tower.
多年来，印度一直是全球最大的应用下载市场，但也是最难实现盈利的市场之一。随着印度消费者在人工智能、娱乐和其他高级应用上的支出增加，这种情况正开始改变。根据 Sensor Tower 的一份最新报告，今年第二季度，印度移动应用市场的消费者支出创下了 3.45 亿美元的纪录，同比增长 35%。
The app-market intelligence firm said the gains were increasingly driven by generative AI, streaming, and productivity apps rather than gaming, as Indian consumers became more willing to pay for digital subscriptions. The record quarter builds on a broader trend of rising app monetization. India’s revenue per download has more than doubled over the past three-and-a-half years, while quarterly app downloads have remained at around 6.3 billion since 2023.
这家应用市场情报公司表示，随着印度消费者越来越愿意为数字订阅付费，这些增长正越来越多地由生成式人工智能、流媒体和生产力应用驱动，而非游戏。这一创纪录的季度表现建立在应用变现能力不断提升的更广泛趋势之上。过去三年半里，印度单次下载的平均收入翻了一番多，而自 2023 年以来，季度应用下载量一直保持在 63 亿次左右。
“We would describe India today as a rapidly evolving mobile market with a large user base and growing willingness to pay for digital services,” Eve Chen, an insights analyst at Sensor Tower, told TechCrunch. Chen attributed the change to the wider adoption of digital payments, including India’s Unified Payments Interface (a system that lets people pay directly from their bank accounts) and digital wallets, which have reduced friction for in-app purchases, alongside growing acceptance of app-based subscriptions and premium digital services.
“我们认为今天的印度是一个快速发展的移动市场，拥有庞大的用户群，且为数字服务付费的意愿日益增强，” Sensor Tower 的洞察分析师 Eve Chen 对 TechCrunch 表示。Chen 将这一变化归因于数字支付的广泛采用，包括印度的统一支付接口（UPI，一种允许人们直接从银行账户付款的系统）和数字钱包，这些工具减少了应用内购买的阻力，同时人们对基于应用的订阅和高级数字服务的接受度也在提高。
The trend also stands out globally. India’s app revenue saw its fastest growth in Q2 among major app markets, generating more than $200 million in quarterly consumer spending, per Sensor Tower’s data shared with TechCrunch. In contrast, Mexico grew 30% and Turkey 25%, while U.S. app revenue actually declined 3% over the same period. “These figures suggest that India is no longer just the world’s largest market by downloads, but is also emerging as one of the fastest-growing markets for app monetization,” Chen told TechCrunch.
这一趋势在全球范围内也十分突出。根据 Sensor Tower 与 TechCrunch 分享的数据，印度第二季度的应用收入在主要应用市场中增长最快，季度消费者支出超过 2 亿美元。相比之下，墨西哥增长了 30%，土耳其增长了 25%，而美国的应用收入在同期实际上下降了 3%。Chen 对 TechCrunch 表示：“这些数据表明，印度不仅是全球下载量最大的市场，而且正在成为应用变现增长最快的市场之一。”
India still trails more mature app markets by a wide margin. Revenue per download stands at about $4.60 in the U.S., $3.90 in South Korea, and $6.10 in Japan, compared with a small fraction of that in India. Nonetheless, Chen said the trajectory matters more than the absolute level, with India’s steadily improving monetization suggesting significant room for long-term growth.
印度在应用变现方面仍远落后于更成熟的市场。美国、韩国和日本的单次下载收入分别约为 4.60 美元、3.90 美元和 6.10 美元，而印度仅为其中的一小部分。尽管如此，Chen 表示，发展轨迹比绝对水平更重要，印度稳步提升的变现能力表明其长期增长空间巨大。
Generative AI has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude together accounting for nearly 83% of India’s AI app revenue in Q2, according to Sensor Tower’s data shared with TechCrunch. Much of India’s app revenue growth is also being driven by non-gaming apps. Non-gaming categories, Sensor Tower said, accounted for 68% of India’s mobile app revenue in the first half of 2026, up from 58% three years earlier.
根据 Sensor Tower 与 TechCrunch 分享的数据，生成式人工智能已成为增长最快的领域之一，OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 和 Anthropic 的 Claude 在第二季度合计占据了印度 AI 应用收入的近 83%。印度应用收入的大部分增长也由非游戏类应用驱动。Sensor Tower 表示，非游戏类应用在 2026 年上半年占印度移动应用收入的 68%，高于三年前的 58%。
The latest data also suggests global subscription apps continue to be among the biggest beneficiaries of rising app spending in India, with Google One becoming India’s highest-grossing mobile app during the quarter. Streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Sony LIV, and JioHotstar also saw growing consumer spending. Gaming also bucked the global trend, with revenue rising 3.7% from the previous quarter despite a worldwide decline, per Sensor Tower.
最新数据还显示，全球订阅类应用继续成为印度应用支出增长的最大受益者之一，Google One 成为该季度印度收入最高的移动应用。亚马逊 Prime Video、Crunchyroll、Sony LIV 和 JioHotstar 等流媒体平台也见证了消费者支出的增长。据 Sensor Tower 数据，游戏行业也逆势而上，尽管全球范围内有所下滑，但其收入较上一季度增长了 3.7%。
App intelligence firm Appfigures also sees India’s app subscription market continuing to grow, although it says the pace has slowed after an AI-fueled surge over the past two years. Subscription revenue is still rising, but much of the initial excitement around AI has abated, Ariel Michaeli, the company’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. “The numbers are still staggering,” Michaeli added. Appfigures estimates that ChatGPT generates about $60,000 a day in India and attracted around 1.8 million downloads over the past month, although that’s down from roughly $80,000 a day last October.
应用情报公司 Appfigures 也认为印度的应用订阅市场将持续增长，尽管该公司表示，在过去两年由人工智能推动的激增之后，增长速度有所放缓。该公司创始人兼首席执行官 Ariel Michaeli 对 TechCrunch 表示，订阅收入仍在增长，但围绕人工智能的最初兴奋感已大为减退。“这些数字仍然令人震惊，” Michaeli 补充道。Appfigures 估计，ChatGPT 在印度每天产生约 6 万美元的收入，过去一个月吸引了约 180 万次下载，尽管这低于去年 10 月每天约 8 万美元的水平。