Over $10 billion — that’s how a lot income Apple’s U.S. App Store raked in final yr, based on a brand new evaluation by app intelligence supplier Appfigures.
The agency’s estimates point out that U.S. App Store income from commissions greater than doubled between 2020 and 2024. In 2020, Apple’s share of App Store commissions was roughly $4.76 billion, rising to over $10.1 billion by 2024.
Based on Appfigures’ information, U.S. App Store builders generated $33.68 billion in gross income from their apps and video games utilizing Apple’s funds system in 2024, and took house $23.57 billion after Apple’s reduce.
Though Apple doesn’t usually get away its App Store income throughout earnings, it did publish a report in May 2023 the place it mentioned the App Store globally generated $104 billion in estimated billings for digital items and providers in 2022.
However, Appfigures’ evaluation discovered the App Store made $61.5 billion globally in 2022, which grew to $91.3 billion in 2024. From this, Apple made greater than $27.39 billion in commissions globally final yr, Appfigures additionally mentioned.
That results in a discrepancy between Appfigures’ evaluation and Apple’s personal.
This might be defined by an necessary caveat present in Apple’s report. Under Apple’s chart, it states that its “billings and gross sales” figures are “not the identical as App Store billings.” That’s necessary right here.
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When Apple wrote its report, the corporate was making an attempt to point out how massive the App Store is and the way key it’s to the general financial system, so it merged App Store income with income generated exterior the App Store to generate its complete for the “Billings and Sales” class.
In the report, Apple calculated the portion of an app’s complete income that’s facilitated by the App Store, even when the acquisition was made elsewhere. For occasion, if a consumer buys a subscription to Hulu on the internet, however then spends 60% of their time streaming Hulu on Apple gadgets, Apple credit itself with facilitating 60% of that consumer’s spend. (To decide utilization, the report relied on third-party sources, like market analysis companies, to estimate how a lot utilization occurred on smartphones versus tablets, desktops, or TVs.)
Apple additionally permits enterprises to distribute apps with in-app purchases, however these aren’t seen within the App Store.
“Grave Irreparable Harm?”
Examining the numbers round U.S. Apple App Store income is extra related than ever within the wake of the current courtroom ruling that now prevents Apple from charging a 27% fee on transactions that happen exterior the App Store.
Apple initially tried to adjust to the courtroom’s injunction ensuing from its antitrust battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games by making modifications that wouldn’t hurt App Store earnings.
To achieve this, Apple final yr gave builders a approach to apply for an exception to its App Store guidelines so they might add net hyperlinks inside their apps that directed prospects to exterior purchases. However, Apple continued to cost a 27% fee on these purchases and dictated how the web site hyperlinks ought to seem. (This even included using “scare screens” to warn shoppers of the risks of constructing purchases exterior the App Store.)
Last week, a choose dominated that Apple was in “willful violation” of the 2021 injunction by persevering with to gather charges on purchases made exterior apps and by creating new anticompetitive obstacles.
This choice pressured Apple to replace its U.S. App Store guidelines, which now permit builders to hyperlink out to different methods for shoppers to make purchases, with out obstacles or commissions. Since then, a number of apps have taken benefit of the flexibility to introduce net funds, together with Spotify, Amazon Kindle, and Patreon. One small sport emulator known as Delta is now supporting itself through Patreon memberships, too.
Apple is interesting the choice, arguing in its most up-to-date submitting that the ruling causes Apple “grave irreparable hurt.”
“These restrictions, which is able to price Apple substantial sums yearly, are based mostly on conduct that has by no means been adjudicated to be (and isn’t) illegal,” Apple’s submitting said. “Rather, they have been imposed to punish Apple for purported non-compliance with an earlier state-law injunction that’s itself invalid.”
This argument received’t doubtless go over properly with builders, as many consider Apple ought to have lowered commissions for everybody years in the past, not only for small enterprise builders.
Appfigures’ evaluation additionally broke down U.S. App Store income by apps and video games, which generated Apple roughly $6.28 billion and $3.83 billion, respectively, in 2024.
Together, these figures spotlight how crucial App Store income stays to Apple’s backside line, and why it’s preventing so arduous to retain management.
