The tech giant acknowledged the issue in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
That filing was flagged in a report Tuesday (Aug. 18) by the Financial Times (FT), which notes that this is the first time Apple has acknowledged that the regulatory challenges are hurting one of its most profitable units.
“If third-party developers use alternative methods of distribution and payment for their apps and digital content, including direct-to-consumer distribution models, the company may earn a lower commission on such sales, or may not earn a commission at all,” Apple’s filing said.
The FT report calls this admission the clearest sign to date that ongoing court decisions and regulatory pushback around the world have begun to eat into the $100 billion services unit.
The report cites new research that illustrates this trend. Sensor Tower found that consumer spending through the App Store in the U.S. declined 6% during the same quarter after growing 9% during the same quarter in 2025. Meanwhile, Appfigures calculated that Apple’s U.S. commission revenue has fallen 18% for the year so far.
As covered here late last month, Apple’s latest earnings report showed its services business hitting a record $30.7 billion for the quarter, a 12% increase in revenue. However, analysts pressed management during the earnings call about growth in that division.
Per the FT report, UBS analyst David Vogt described cooling App Store growth as a “concern,” while Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan said that the record services revenue was nonetheless “somewhat weaker than we expected.”
Apple has had to update its business model in Japan, Brazil and the European Union in the last year to comply with new rules dealing with alternative app distribution, payment methods and out-of-app purchase offers.
In June, regulators in the U.K. said they wanted both Apple and rival Google to permit developers to direct users to payment methods outside the companies’ app stores.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a proposal that would remove the restrictions imposed by the companies that keep app developers from steering users to alternative methods of payment.
Apple was already forced to do so in the U.S. in its legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games. According to the FT, Sensor Tower says the U.S. slowdown is a reflection of how consumer spending within the App Store had been “significantly impacted” by the decision in that case.
