A study supported by Apple shows how the App Store fueled a $1.3 trillion economy in 2024, which will likely be used as a primary talking point as governments worldwide make regulatory moves.
Between the Epic legal battle in the United States and the European Union’s Digital Markets Act challenging Apple’s App Store model, a lot of eyes are on Apple. Time and again, courts have pushed back against Apple’s management of the App Store, and it’s reaching a breaking point.
So, Apple has shared a global App Store economic study performed by analysts Jessica Burley, Ph.D. and Professor Andrey Fradkin, Ph.D. The researchers say in the piece that “support for this study was provided by Apple,” but aren’t clear on what. It’s also clear in the text that “the conclusions and opinions expressed are exclusively those of the authors.”
The study shares several key metrics in how the existence of Apple’s App Store has contributed to the global market in 2024 and how it has grown since 2019.
The study released Thursday covers the global app economy, which is an expansion of a study released on May 29 that focused on the United States.
Before we get into some of the data points, Apple clarified that categories in the study are not perfect reflections of the categories in the App Store. Also, the total $1.3 trillion doesn’t account for Apple first-party apps or browsers like Google Chrome.
The ad category only applies to ads placed by developers. That excludes ad networks, ad tech, web ads, or search ads.
Apple also notes that it collected zero commission on more than 90% of the $1.3 trillion in billings and sales facilitated by the App Store ecosystem. This point is likely crucial in defending its need to collect some commission from somewhere in the App Store.
Key metrics in the 2024 App Store study:
- $1.3 trillion in billings and sales globally
- $1 trillion from physical goods, $131 billion from digital goods, $150 billion from ads
- 109% digital goods and services growth
- 162% physical goods and services growth
- 131% in-app ad revenue growth
- App Store ecosystem grew from $514 billion in 2019 to $1.3 trillion in 2024
- The United States accounted for $406 billion, China $539 billion, and Europe $148 billion of the $1.3 trillion total
The 17-page PDF has nine pages for the study, an appendix that is just a single chart, then five pages of methodology. The whole thing is clearly meant to help stand up Apple’s current App Store business model as a good thing for the global economy and developers.
Sources cited are Statista, Comscore Media Matrix, Statcounter, Omdia, and JP Morgan, among others.
Apple’s developer problem
However, the numbers don’t reflect the feelings of some of the more vocal developers out there. Several disgruntled developers have spent years criticizing Apple’s commissions and asking for more granularity and care in how they pay for access to the App Store.
It is clear that Apple’s App Store is a big driver of commerce around the world. However, it is hard to look at these numbers and justify that the 10% of devs paying Apple’s commissions are the ones responsible for keeping it all afloat.
If anything, the data could be used against Apple to suggest their inefficiency in monetizing their platform. Perhaps if more of the global commerce performed because of the App Store could be monetized, Apple could charge individual some developers less.
Clearly, despite retail software venues still taking more, Apple’s method of taking a commission off the top of a developer’s App Store revenue is not preferred by developers, governments, or judges. It’s apparently too uneven, as companies like Netflix can exist on the App Store for $100 per year while some game developers have to give Apple 30% of their livelihoods.
It’s been said before, but the most obvious option Apple could take is charging more for access to developer tools, annual flat fees, and other kinds of revenue sources. The flat rate of 30%, or 15% for subscriptions over a year or for developers earnings less than $1 million per year, was all well and good when the App Store wasn’t $1.3 trillion of the global economy in a year.
Apple needs a new App Store economy, and if it doesn’t find one soon, regulators will force it on them. There’s a chance this report will help Apple push back in court, but there’s also a good chance it will backfire and make things worse for the company.