Mobile growth across Asia is being driven by three powerful forces: mainstream AI apps, the rise of short-form drama and the untapped potential of third-party Android stores for low-cost user acquisition.
A study by mobile advertising platform Mintegral found that Generative AI apps are no longer niche, with 16 apps in the region having surpassed US$10 million in revenue, while 25 exceeded 10 million downloads.
Chatbots and AI art generators are leading the charge, showing that consumers are willing to pay for AI-driven productivity and creative tools. For marketers, this creates a large, conversion-ready audience for AI-powered utilities, from finance and PDF/chat apps to community and lifestyle tools.
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Short-form drama, particularly episodic content designed for micro-binging, has also surged across APAC, with Indonesia accounting for 39% of downloads, followed by Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico, and Japan. Most of these apps monetise via advertising (around 90%), giving performance marketers clear levers – including rewarded video, daily check-ins, and in-app unlocks – to balance reach, retention, and monetisation.
Beyond Google Play and the App Store, alternative Android stores – including Xiaomi, Amazon, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei – are quietly delivering cost-efficient user growth.
Case studies on Amazon’s store, for example, show cost-per-install rates as low as US$0.26 to 0.42, with daily installs ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 depending on genre and bidding strategy. These platforms allow marketers to diversify distribution, reduce competition for inventory, and unlock incremental scale.
What this means for advertisers
With AI apps and short-drama formats surging, marketers can no longer treat these channels as experimental. Mobile-first consumers in APAC, particularly Southeast Asia, are engaging beyond the traditional duopoly of social and video platforms, making it essential to rethink audience strategies.
For advertisers, the opportunities are clear. Campaigns can leverage AI features to create engaging content and optimise episodic, bingeable short-drama formats using rewarded video, daily check-ins, and in-app unlocks. Expanding into third-party Android stores also offers cost-efficient access to high-intent users at scale, unlocking new pathways beyond conventional app stores.
In Singapore alone, digital ad spend is expected to surpass US$1.94 billion this year, an 11% year-on-year increase, reflecting both rising digital maturity and intensifying competition for consumer attention, according to We Are Social’s Digital 2025 trend report.
Similarly, in 2025, Malaysia’s total advertising revenues are expected to reach MYR 9.6 billion (US$2.0 billion), growing by 6.7%. Digital media owners’ advertising revenues are projected to grow by 9.9% to MYR 7.5 billion (US$1.6 billion), accounting for 78% of total advertising budgets, revealed MAGNA in a report.
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