Adjust today published its Mobile App Trends Spotlight Edition: Vietnam 2026, a benchmarking report drawing on aggregated, anonymized data from apps tracked by the measurement company between January 2024 and March 2026. The report covers gaming, finance, and entertainment verticals across global, APAC, SEA, and INSEA regional comparisons, and arrives as Vietnam consolidates its position as one of Southeast Asia's most active mobile markets.

Vietnam ranked 11th globally for app downloads in 2025, recording 2.88 billion installs and 127 billion hours spent in-app, according to Adjust. Smartphone penetration in the country sits at 84%, with 4G coverage reaching 99%. Those infrastructure conditions underpin a market where three distinct verticals - gaming, finance, and entertainment - are each growing at different speeds and producing diverging engagement patterns.

The report's dataset draws from two sources: a list of Adjust's top 5,000 apps spanning 45 countries, and a broader total dataset covering approximately 250 countries and territories, based on the ISO 3166-1 standard. All figures are aggregated and anonymized. The data window runs from January 2024 through March 2026, giving the report a longer-than-usual comparison baseline that allows year-over-year trend lines to be drawn against Q1 2026 performance.

PPC Land covered Adjust's global Mobile App Trends 2026 Edition in February, which examined gaming, e-commerce, and finance performance across six world regions. The Vietnam spotlight functions as a companion piece focused on a single high-growth market.

Gaming: sessions up 15% YoY, with strategy the standout

Gaming is Vietnam's largest app category by volume. According to Adjust, the vertical recorded 1.29 billion downloads in 2025. Vietnamese studios accounted for 37% of all global game app downloads that year. In-app purchase (IAP) revenue held at $259 million - a figure Adjust positions as evidence of monetization potential relative to the scale of the player base, given that digital wallets now account for 41% of online gaming transactions in the country.

The headline engagement figure for Q1 2026 is a 15% year-over-year increase in gaming app sessions. That compares with 4% growth globally and 5% in APAC over the same period, according to Adjust. It is a meaningful gap. Within 2025 itself, install activity concentrated mid-year: installs ran 19% above the annual average in May, peaked at 45% above average in June, and remained elevated at 13% above average in July and 4% in August. Sessions mirrored that pattern, rising 8% in May, 14% in July, and 12% in August. Momentum carried into 2026, with February installs 8% above the Q1 average and March sessions up 7%.

Subvertical breakdown

The install and session data by gaming subvertical shows where the growth is concentrated. For installs in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, board games were up 11% and strategy games up 16%, according to Adjust. On the sessions side, the picture is more varied. Casual games led with 46% session growth, followed by strategy at 282% - the highest single-subvertical number in the report. Casino and puzzle sessions each rose 18%, hybrid casual and hyper casual games each grew 7%, simulation gained 5%.

The 282% strategy session figure stands apart from the rest of the table. It is not explained in detail in the report, but it coincides with the market's overall move toward hybrid casual and midcore titles. According to Adjust, studios are pushing into these formats to convert the country's large install base into paying users.

Session length data reinforces that directional shift. The average mobile gaming session in Vietnam increased from 28.32 minutes in 2024 to 30.05 minutes in 2025, reaching 32.88 minutes in Q1 2026, according to Adjust. APAC and global session lengths declined in 2025 before recovering in Q1 2026, but Vietnam's trajectory was consistently upward. Strategy games recorded the longest sessions among subverticals: 41.91 minutes in 2025, rising to 48.91 minutes in Q1 2026. Hybrid casual sessions reached 25.1 minutes in Q1 2026, up from 23.38 minutes in 2025.

Retention rates

On retention, Vietnam trails global benchmarks. According to Adjust, gaming apps in Vietnam recorded a day 1 retention rate of 19% in Q1 2026, compared with 20% in APAC and 28% globally. By day 7, Vietnam stood at 5% versus 7% in APAC and 14% globally. From day 14 onward, Vietnam and APAC converged at 3%, while both fell short of the global figure.

At the subvertical level, day 1 retention improved across nearly all categories between 2025 and Q1 2026. Board games moved from 22% to 24%, idle RPG from 20% to 23%, casino from 11% to 14%, and word games from 19% to 21%, according to Adjust.

Long La, CEO of TP Entertainment, addressed the retention question directly in the report: "Product quality is the passport to sustainable growth. Rather than relying solely on paid acquisition, apps must drive retention through real value, rock-solid stability, and a seamless user experience."

Finance: installs outpace INSEA, sessions fall

Finance app dynamics in Vietnam are more nuanced. Downloads hit 172 million in 2025, according to Adjust, and early 2026 signals continued expansion. Mobile payments grew 34.4% in volume and 10.5% in value in the first two months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. The super app segment is consolidating: MoMo has surpassed 30 million users, and ZaloPay grew its active user base 40% in a single year, according to Adjust.

In Q1 2026, finance app installs in Vietnam rose 21% year-over-year, outpacing the 13% increase recorded in INSEA (India, Southeast Asia) over the same period. However, sessions in Vietnam declined 12% YoY during Q1 2026 - a divergence worth examining. INSEA sessions surged 81% in the same quarter. The install growth therefore does not yet translate into engagement depth at the same rate.

Within 2025, the install-to-sessions relationship shifted through the year. Sessions led first, rising 10% in March and 16% in April. Install growth came later, up 15% in August and 17% in September. December was the strongest single month for finance app installs, sitting 38% above the annual average. Early 2026 brought a further reset: installs rose 7% in January, then installs and sessions both accelerated in March, with installs up 22% and sessions 12% against the Q1 average, according to Adjust.

Subvertical standouts

Crypto and stock trading apps drove the fastest install growth in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. Crypto installs rose 28% and stock trading installs climbed 36%, according to Adjust. On the sessions side, stock trading grew 27% and payment apps 15%.

Session lengths in Vietnam's finance vertical declined: from 6.81 minutes in 2025 to 6.17 minutes in Q1 2026, following 2% YoY growth the prior year. According to Adjust, this pattern may reflect the increasing prevalence of super apps and embedded financial services, where digital payments and QR-based transactions reduce the time needed per session. INSEA users showed longer sessions throughout - 9.57 minutes in 2025, tapering to 8.3 minutes in Q1 2026 - suggesting Vietnam's market is further along the QR adoption curve. At the subvertical level, stock trading sessions averaged 20.76 minutes in 2025 and rose slightly to 20.94 minutes in Q1 2026, according to Adjust, while banking and payment sessions shortened modestly.

Retention across finance apps was broadly aligned between Vietnam and INSEA. Day 1 retention stood at 9% in Vietnam and 10% in INSEA. Both markets reached 4% by day 7, 3% by day 14, and 1% by day 30, according to Adjust.

Huy Vu, Senior Growth Lead at Adjust, described the behavioral context: "Vietnam stands out as a market where user expectations for speed and simplicity in digital experiences are extremely high. QR payments online and offline have become the norm, and people increasingly expect app-based services. Success is driven by how well your apps fits into daily digital behavior and local user habits."

Ngan Nguyen, Head of Marketing & Growth at Cake by VPBank, offered a perspective on loyalty dynamics: "Vietnamese users are no longer loyal to apps just for the promotions - they stay for experiences that truly understand and seamlessly cater to their needs. That is why Cake places AI at our core: not merely as a feature, but as a profound layer of customer understanding. The platforms that successfully converge technology, data, and user trust will be the ones driving the next wave of digital financial growth in Vietnam."

Stricter biometric verification and customer identification standards introduced in the finance vertical have raised compliance requirements for new entrants, according to Adjust. That regulatory pressure adds friction to user onboarding, which may partly explain the session count decline even as installs grow.

Entertainment: short drama apps surge 271%, sessions up 76%

Entertainment is the fastest-moving vertical in the report. Video streaming app downloads rose 31% in 2025 to 43 million, while IAP revenue jumped 73% to $23.2 million, according to Adjust. Short drama apps moved from niche to mainstream at speed: downloads surged 271% year-over-year in Q4 2025 alone. The subgenre ranked fifth for IAP revenue across all app subgenres in Vietnam in 2025 at $11.5 million, with Dramawave, ShortMax, NetShort, and StardustTV among the leading titles.

The broader entertainment install and session figures in Q1 2026 are striking. Entertainment app installs in Vietnam grew 32% YoY, and sessions rose 76%, according to Adjust. The Southeast Asia region as a whole saw larger gains - installs up 98% and sessions 80% - but Vietnam's figures represent a sharp acceleration from the prior year. Mid-2025 was the turning point: in July, installs ran 21% above the year's average and sessions jumped 33%, a level that held in August. Sessions stayed elevated through the end of 2025, with additional gains of 17% in September and December. In early 2026, January installs were up 10% and March brought growth on both metrics - 11% for installs and 12% for sessions.

Session lengths in the entertainment vertical also increased. The average session grew from 21.51 minutes in 2024 to 21.94 minutes in 2025 and reached 24.46 minutes in Q1 2026, a 12% increase over the year prior, according to Adjust. SEA as a whole had shorter sessions - 14.57 minutes in 2025 and 14.28 minutes in Q1 2026 - suggesting Vietnam's users are spending materially more time per entertainment session than their regional counterparts. Video streaming subvertical sessions rose from 19.65 minutes in 2025 to 23.95 minutes in Q1 2026. Music and audio sessions grew from 21 to 21.65 minutes. Music and audio app installs in Vietnam grew 9% YoY in Q1 2026.

Entertainment retention in Vietnam closely tracked SEA in Q1 2026. Day 1 retention was 8% in Vietnam and 9% in SEA, according to Adjust. By day 7, Vietnam stood at 2% and SEA at 3%. Both markets reached 2% by day 14 and 1% by day 30 - figures that reflect the inherently browsable nature of entertainment content compared with the utility-driven engagement of finance or gaming.

Regulatory environment shaping all three verticals

Decree 147, a 2024 regulation on internet services and digital media, tightened licensing, compliance, and content requirements for gaming apps and had a significant impact on Vietnam's digital landscape, according to Adjust. The regulation introduced a framework that adds operational overhead for new studio entrants and for titles seeking to scale. In finance, biometric verification and customer identification requirements introduced stricter standards. In entertainment, a fragmented ecosystem spanning legacy media, OTT platforms, telco-bundled services, and the fast-moving short drama tier means user journeys are increasingly non-linear and harder to measure, the report states.

The regulatory complexity across all three verticals illustrates why measurement infrastructure has become a competitive variable in this market. Attribution and retention data need to be granular enough to distinguish organic growth from paid acquisition, and to track user behavior across formats that do not follow linear paths.

PPC Land has previously covered Adjust's web-to-app marketing handbook with Google Ads, released in September 2025, which addressed the growing complexity of cross-channel attribution funnels - a challenge equally relevant in markets like Vietnam, where user journeys span super apps, OTT platforms, and mobile web. An earlier Adjust report on e-commerce app performance, published in August 2025, found that global e-commerce app installs declined 14% despite 2% session growth - a pattern that shares some structural resemblance with Vietnam's finance session decline despite install growth in Q1 2026.

Why this matters for mobile marketers

Vietnam's combination of scale, engagement depth, and regulatory complexity produces a measurement environment where general regional benchmarks may mislead. Gaming sessions in Vietnam grew at three times the global rate in Q1 2026, yet day 7 retention in the same category ran at less than half the global figure. Finance installs grew faster than INSEA, but sessions moved in the opposite direction. Entertainment session lengths exceeded regional peers by more than 10 minutes per session. Each of those divergences has direct implications for how user acquisition budgets are allocated, how lifetime value is modeled, and how retention campaigns are designed.

The Adjust global 2026 report covered by PPC Land in February documented a 30% year-over-year rise in gaming cost-per-install globally, alongside a broader tightening of efficiency metrics. The Vietnam data, by contrast, shows session growth outpacing install growth in gaming - a configuration that suggests existing user bases are becoming more active rather than purely growing through new installs. That distinction matters for budget planning in a market where install costs are not static.

The report is based on aggregated and anonymized data from apps tracked by Adjust and may not reflect the entire global app market, the company notes. Forecasts referenced in the report are based on third-party industry estimates and are subject to change.

Timeline

  • January 2024 - Adjust's data collection window for the Vietnam spotlight report begins, covering gaming, finance, and entertainment verticals across global, APAC, SEA, and INSEA regions
  • 2024 - Decree 147 enacted in Vietnam, tightening licensing, compliance, and content requirements for gaming apps and internet services
  • 2024 - Average gaming session length in Vietnam stands at 28.32 minutes
  • May-June 2025 - Gaming app installs in Vietnam peak, with May running 19% above the annual average and June reaching +45%
  • July 2025 - Entertainment app installs run 21% above the year's average; sessions jump 33%
  • August 2025 - Adjust reports global e-commerce app installs down 14% despite 2% session growth
  • August-September 2025 - Finance app installs in Vietnam rise 15% in August and 17% in September
  • Q4 2025 - Short drama app downloads in Vietnam surge 271% YoY; video streaming IAP revenue jumps 73% to $23.2 million for the full year
  • December 2025 - Finance app installs in Vietnam hit 38% above the annual average, the strongest single month of the year
  • September 2025 - Adjust and Google Ads release web-to-app marketing handbook addressing cross-channel attribution complexity
  • 2025 full year - Vietnam ranks 11th globally in app downloads with 2.88 billion installs and 127 billion hours spent in-app; gaming records 1.29 billion downloads; finance app downloads reach 172 million
  • February 2026 - Adjust global Mobile App Trends 2026 Edition published, documenting gaming CPI up 30% and ATT opt-in rates at 38%
  • Q1 2026 - Gaming sessions in Vietnam grow 15% YoY, versus 4% globally and 5% in APAC; finance installs rise 21% YoY; entertainment installs up 32% and sessions up 76%
  • Q1 2026 - Average gaming session length in Vietnam reaches 32.88 minutes; entertainment app sessions average 24.46 minutes
  • March 2026 - Data collection window closes for Vietnam 2026 spotlight report
  • May 27, 2026 - Adjust publishes Mobile App Trends Spotlight Edition: Vietnam 2026

Summary

Who: Adjust, an AppLovin company, published the report. Data covers apps across the gaming, finance, and entertainment verticals tracked by Adjust between January 2024 and March 2026.

What: The Mobile App Trends Spotlight Edition: Vietnam 2026 provides benchmark data on installs, sessions, session lengths, and retention rates for Vietnam, compared against global, APAC, SEA, and INSEA benchmarks. Key findings include: gaming sessions up 15% YoY in Q1 2026, finance installs up 21% YoY in Q1 2026, short drama app downloads up 271% YoY in Q4 2025, and entertainment sessions up 76% YoY in Q1 2026.

When: The report was published on May 27, 2026, drawing on data collected from January 2024 through March 2026.

Where: Vietnam, analyzed within Southeast Asia and APAC regional comparisons. Adjust is headquartered in Berlin (Adjust GmbH, Saarbrücker Str. 37A, 10405 Berlin), represented by Andrey Kazakov and Egor Lukomsky.

Why: Vietnam's position as the 11th largest app market globally by download volume, combined with diverging engagement patterns across verticals and a shifting regulatory environment under Decree 147, makes granular benchmarking data relevant for mobile marketers making user acquisition, retention, and measurement decisions in the market.

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