Apple today announced that its App Store ecosystem supported $519 billion in billings and sales worldwide in 2019, based on an independent study conducted by Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm in the United States.
Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned over $155 billion from app and in-app purchases, with a quarter of those earnings occurring in 2019. However, the App Store also facilitates the sale of a wide variety of physical goods and services, ranging from Uber and Lyft rides to Postmates and DoorDash deliveries, which the study found accounted for $413 billion of the last year's total.
Of this $413 billion, some categories include:
$268 billion from retail apps such as Target, Best Buy, and Etsy
$57 billion from travel apps such as Expedia and United
$40 billion from ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft
$31 billion from food delivery apps such as DoorDash and Grubhub
Apple CEO Tim Cook:
The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life, and users can find safe and trusted tools to make their lives better. In a challenging and unsettled time, the App Store provides enduring opportunities for entrepreneurship, health and well-being, education, and job creation, helping people adapt quickly to a changing world. We're committed to doing even more to support and nurture the global App Store community — from one-developer shops in nearly every country to businesses that employ thousands of workers — as it continues to foster innovation, create jobs, and propel economic growth for the future.
Apple said the App Store now has nearly two million apps and is accessed by half a billion people each week across 175 countries.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Apple today announced its first custom cellular modem with the name "C1," debuting in the all-new iPhone 16e.
The new modem contributes to the iPhone 16e's power efficiency, giving it the longest battery life of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.
Expanding the benefits of Apple silicon, C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 8:46 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is permanently closing its retail store at the Northbrook Court shopping mall in the Chicago area. The company confirmed the upcoming closure today in a statement, but it has yet to provide a closing date for the location.
Apple Northbrook opened in 2005, and the store moved to a larger space in the mall in 2017.
Apple confirmed that affected employees will continue to work for the...
> The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life
Except if they compete with Apple. Or try to offer free speech. Or need to escape Apple's narrow sandbox. Or have a novel business model that can't work with 30% overhead. Etc.
offer free speech in an App Store what does that even mean? Please elaborate. So developers that make good money, are now going to bite the hand that feeds them; pretty much?! I get changing default iOS apps to third party but asking for no fees when distribution, support for over 12 different mode iPhones to make money off of, guaranteed per sale income (no refunds) and ability to upload test keys for apps? Not agreeing on that ever.
every business should be able to work with some overhead. If you’re coding completely 24/7 no other income then it’s your responsibility to deal with rent, food, internet and other bills not Apple.
App Store is great for developers. Any developers complaining about the lack of "alternative app stores" clearly doesn't understand the user experience side of having 1 app store. They also don't understand that having 1 app store allows Apple to concentrate all of their resources to making it better for the developer.
Impressive and good news for Apple. This is the future for Apple and it knows it -- services, recurring revenue, and software. It's just far more profitable and sustainable over time.
Cook & Co. has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on "App Discovery" in their "curated" iOS App Store !
UN-Discovered Gem Apps sit Idle, while apps from BIG public companies that appear to be near-copy-cats of other similar apps (flooded) in the App Store, get recommended as App of the Day ... see today's Photoshop app !
Strike that, it's actually "two" MAJOR complaints:
> The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life
Except if they compete with Apple. Or try to offer free speech. Or need to escape Apple's narrow sandbox. Or have a novel business model that can't work with 30% overhead. Etc.
