Apple Highlights App Store Study: $1.4 Trillion in Sales Last Year, More Than 90% Commission-Free

Steve has a good point here.

It's been a lot of FUD from Apple (and in Apple-land) around so many of the App Store "concerns".

Steve has a good point here.

It's been a lot of FUD from Apple (and in Apple-land) around so many of the App Store "concerns".

Oh yes, burned every single one of those bridges! It’s a shame they’ll never make $1.4 Trillion in sales due to all the developer bridges they burned. You know, to the point that developers no longer see value in customers that could very well, one day, have driven $1.4 Trillion in sales. :)

Apps are still not “sideloaded” as defined in the dictionary. Every app going to an iPhone around the world is going through a structure required and defined by the governments were Apple’s still in full control in order to prevent malware, PR disasters AND so that if a government wants an app off of an iPhone, they go to one party to have it removed, even from the third party stores. (This has already been used)

It’s actually like Apple was telling the truth when they indicated that the majority of developers and consumers don’t care about those things and, if Apple’s allowed to keep it locked down, customers will still come and developers will still profit. :)

From the study:

Of this total, $149 billion, or approximately 10%, was attributable to digital goods and services and $1.1 trillion, or about 79%, came from sales of physical goods and services. In-app advertising revenue from ads placed by developers in their apps on iOS devices accounted for an additional $151 billion, or roughly 10% of the total.

So the "90% commission free" is the sum of the 80% that are physical goods or services and the 11% that are third-party ad networks (that Apple has somehow resisted the urge to tax; maybe that's finally coming at WWDC).

And then the remaining 10% is everyone who grits their teeth, adjusts their business model, and pays the Apple tax to sell digital goods.

It is actually astonishing that Apple is touting this as a good thing. Apple's rent-seeking approach to digital goods on iOS means only 10% of transactions on iOS are for digital. It should easily be double that, probably quadruple! The $149 billion market could be $249 billion if Apple loosened their restrictions just a bit!

This is the one thing I honestly hope Ternus changes when he takes the big chair. For all the good calls Cook has made over the past 15 years, this has been the one big COO-brained thing he simply couldn't let go of.

They are counting all as non-commission all the times you went and ordered an Uber, or booked an AirBnb, or bought something off a website? Very misleading to claim that as not being greedy.

Next are the electrical companies are going to say that they do even more trillions in assisted sales commission-free?

That means Apple has earned roundabout $42 billion in fees for doing nothing.

By 'doing nothing', you mean facilitating $1.4 trillion in sales for developers (which they keep the vast majority of)...??

And then the remaining 10% is everyone who grits their teeth, adjusts their business model, and pays the Apple tax to sell digital goods.

The remaining 10% is everyone that has decided that the way they want to make money in this world, outside of the MYRIAD number of ways to make money in this world, is through delivering products to users of Apple devices that require an App Store. I don’t develop for any of Apple’s platforms and, oddly enough, I’m able to not pay a commission because I don’t do that. Anyone else that similarly don’t want to pay the Apple tax to sell digital goods on Apple devices can simply… I mean… not sell digital goods on Apple devices. If they REALLY don’t want to pay the Apple tax I mean. Like if that’s their number one thing they NEVER want to do in their lives.

In fact, I’d say it’s easier to NOT pay the Apple tax than to pay it because of all the steps required before one can even put themselves in the position of paying the Apple tax. No one walking down the street right now is going to trip and fall into an Apple tax situation. It’s wholly an intentional act. :)