Apple Inc. announced Tuesday that it has paid $320 billion (currently about 2.17 trillion RMB) to developers since launching the App Store in 2008, up $60 billion (currently about 406.8 billion RMB ) from $260 billion in the year ending 2021. That means that in 2022, Apple paid developers about $60 billion, flat year-over-year, and growth appears to have peaked.
▲ App Store
Depending on the commission rate, developers can receive between 70 and 85 percent of total App Store sales. If all developers paid Apple a 30 percent cut, Apple’s App Store would generate more than $85 billion in revenue in 2022; at a minimum 15 percent cut, the App Store would have generated about $70 billion in revenue last year.
Those are rough estimates and could be different from reality, because it’s unclear how many developers paid the 15 percent draw and how many paid the 30 percent draw, and Apple’s numbers are rounded. But Tuesday’s data showed that growth in Apple’s App Store slowed last year. That data is important to investors because the App Store is an important part of Apple’s services business and the company’s profit engine.
Apple said in a press release that 2022 is a “record” year for the App Store, with subscriptions increasing to 900 million from 745 million in 2021. Apple’s numbers include all users who subscribe to services through the Apple App Store, not just Apple’s own first-party services like Apple TV+ and Music.
