Apple’s App Store has been an area of concern for the iPhone maker for quite some time – in fact, it was due to the App Store and Apple’s policies that landed it in hot waters and subjected the company to lawsuits last year. The company had extended an olive branch by lowering its commission from 30% to 15% on apps that earned up to $1 million a year. Let us see how the App Store performed last year, shall we?
As a summary of its digital services across 2021, Apple announced that developers who had sold goods and services on its App Store had earned more than $260 billion since the launch of the App Store in 2008. Last year alone, Apple paid developers a record $60 billion. Apple had paid developers $200 billion till 2020.
Payouts from Apple to developers increased by $35 billion from 2018 to 2019, and then by $45 billion from 2019 to 2020.
Apple’s App Store is one of the most popular app stores out there, and it and Google’s Play Store had found themselves in the center of various controversies last year, stemming from complaints from developers.
The rate of commission both Google and Apple charge have been deemed to be harmful and fallen under regulatory scrutiny more than once. All the pressure finally forced the companies to make changes into the commission structure and reduce the rate.
In fact, developers of media apps could create in-app links to external sign-up pages to bypass Apple’s in-app purchase commission entirely. Apple also had to relent to allow developers to accept direct payments outside of the App Store.
“This significant number sets a new yearly record for App Store developer earnings while representing just a small fraction of the overall commerce the App Store facilitates, serving as one meaningful marker of how the ecosystem continues to create opportunities and drive economic expansion for entrepreneurs around the world,” said the company.
“Apple’s world-class portfolio of services proved essential in 2021, as people worldwide sought new ways to keep entertained, informed, connected, and inspired,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.
“With over 745 million paid subscriptions, Apple continues to connect the world’s developers, artists, and storytellers with users across more than a billion devices, delivering powerful tools, content, and experiences that enrich their lives in profound ways every day.”
While the numbers indicate that developers had a good 2021 as they earned record amounts, it fails to shed light into the overall economy of the App Store.
We do know that App Store customers had spent “more than ever” between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in 2021, but we do not have the numbers like we did it 2020 ($1.8 billion had been spent during that period in 2020). Apple’s App Store is present across 175 countries.
Additionally, Apple informed that 30 million tickets for access to events were stored and used in its Wallet app across the US and Canada last year, with the Apple Books app has 100 million monthly users.
If that is not all, Apple TV+ had been “honoured with 763 award nominations and 190 wins, including Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations, 12 Primetime Emmy Award wins across major programme categories.”
