Apple says that more than 90 percent of the billings and sales were received by small and large developers and businesses without any commission paid to Apple. In the report, Apple adds that according to an analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute, the iOS app economy is now responsible for more than 4.8 million jobs across the U.S. and Europe, with approximately 2.4 million jobs in each region.
Some app categories drove tremendous sales
Detailing the overall proceeds from the app store business, Apple says, the developers have generated $910 billion in total billings and sales from the sale of physical goods and services, $109 billion from in-app advertising, and $104 billion for digital goods and services. The amount generated by developers has seen a continuous upward graph in the past three years. “Developer billings and sales increased by 27 percent between 2019 and 2020; 27 percent between 2020 and 2021; and 29 percent between 2021 and 2022. Small developers in particular found tremendous success on the App Store — outpacing larger developers by growing their revenue by 71 percent between 2020 and 2022.” The continuous growth is driven by remarkable performance in certain sectors like travel and ride-hailing services. This comes after eased restrictions that were imposed during the Coronavirus pandemic. Sales by travel apps witnessed an increase of 84% in 2022, whereas, ride-hailing apps saw a jump of 45% during the same time period. Another app category that has seen tremendous growth is food and grocery. As per the report, the food and grocery category was one of the fastest-growing digital goods and services categories in 2022. In the digital goods and services sectors, the entertainment category turned out to be the winner. Besides the monetary benefit, the report also praises App Store for offering a safe and trusted marketplace for users, and powerful tools that help developers make great apps. This comes after rules by European Union that will force Apple to allow users to download apps from third-party app stores. The newly passed Digital Markets App will make it mandatory for Apple to allow side-loading apps. Despite the regulations, Apple has iterated on numerous occasions that it charges a 30% commission from developers to provide a safe platform in the form of the App Store to developers and users alike.
