Generative AI services have become must-have apps in Korea's mobile app market, quickly reshaping the in-app purchase landscape long dominated by mobile games.
According to market research firm Sensor Tower's "2026 Mobile Status Report" on the 4th, last year's domestic Generative AI in-app purchase revenue surged by more than 513% from a year earlier. Despite high subscription fees, usage is spreading quickly, driving steep growth, the analysis said.
Last year, domestic Generative AI in-app purchase revenue from Google Play Store and Apple App Store reached $235 million, up 513.6% from $38.3 million a year earlier. During the same period, downloads totaled 53.9 million, a 92.5% increase from a year earlier.
Sensor Tower assessed that users have moved beyond merely trying new AI services and that Generative AI has taken root as a core tool in daily life. In fact, last year in Korea, time spent using Generative AI apps totaled 827 million hours, a 369.9% surge from the previous year.
The same trend was seen in the global market. Worldwide Generative AI app in-app purchase revenue grew 229% in a year, from $1.53 billion to $5.04 billion. Downloads rose 117.7%, from 1.75 billion to 3.81 billion, and time spent also increased 259%, from 13.4 billion hours to 48.0 billion hours.
By contrast, growth in the mobile game market slowed noticeably. Global mobile game in-app purchase revenue rose just 1.3%, and the domestic market also remained at 1.0% growth.