With an increase from the $120 billion made known in January 2019, Apple has paid $155 billion to developers as of 2008. According to a CNBC analysis, Apple’s App Store had sales maxing out at $50 billion last year – with the assumption that developers get a 70 percent cut – and brought in approximately $15 billion in revenue for the tech firm.
Apple does not disclose the total amount of revenue that its App Store brings in per year. However, the tech firm has published other App Store data each January since 2013. That includes the total amount of funds it pays to developers, who receive 70 percent of an app’s purchase price in the first year and 85 percent in a subscription’s second year.
Apple reported that they paid out $35 billion to developers last year, which suggests $50 billion in total sales. The annual disclosure, however, indicates that growth for the App Store could be slowing. The $35 billion figure was just 2.9 percent more than 2018’s $34 billion figure. It also marks a sizable slowdown from the 30 percent growth rate seen in 2017.
The company’s release of the statistics is intended to show momentum in the services business sector, which encompasses subscription content like Apple TV+ and Apple Music as well as licensing revenue and iPhone warranties.
Last year, Morgan Stanley Analyst Katy Huberty predicted that Apple TV+, the new streaming service, would be highly successful and would help Apple’s services offerings grow 20 percent in 2020. The service launched in November at a price of $4.99 per month. Subscribers receive access to TV shows and movies, and shoppers who buy a new iPad or iPhone will get the service for free for a year.