The App Store Gold Rush

Ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the company shared a new report, touting the economic impact of the App Store. The "independent" study conducted by the Analysis Group found that the App Store ecosystem fascilitated $1.1 trillion in developer sales and billings last year, only a small fraction of which was subject to Apple's controversial commission. "The App Store is a vibrant, innovative marketplace where opportunity thrives, and we’re as committed as ever to investing in developers’ success and the app economy’s future,” Tim Cook, Apple's CEO said in a press release.

Apple also revealed that the App Store attracted over 650 million weekly visitors last year and that by the end of 2022, iOS developers had made more than $320 billion since the App Store’s inception in 2008. That figure is up from $260 billion announced in January 2022, meaning that developers have made $60 billion in the last year alone, an acceleration helped in part by the introduction of the App Store Small Business Program, which was launched on January 1, 2021 and reduced Apple’s commission from 30 to 15 percent for developers making less than $1 million a year.

While Apple understandably likes to emphasize the success that third-party developers are having on the App Store, the company participates in that success to no small extent. Assuming an average commission rate between 15 and 25 percent, Apple probably raked in between $10 and $25 billion in App Store commissions last year alonge, making apps a central pillar of its quickly growing services segment.