Apple’s (AAPL) App Store facilitated almost $1.3 trillion in sales and billings in 2024, the company announced Thursday.
The findings, part of a report commissioned by Apple and performed by Analysis Group’s Jessica Burley and Boston University professor Andrey Fradkin, show that App Store sales across both physical and digital goods have exploded over the last 5 years, climbing from $514 billion in 2019 to $1.29 trillion last year.
Some 78% of sales, $1.01 trillion worth, came via the sale of physical goods and services, which includes categories like general retail, travel, food delivery, and ride hailing. Another 10% came from digital goods and services like in-app purchases for games. The final 12% came from in-app advertising revenue.
The US accounted for the majority of sales and billings related to both in-app purchase and in-app advertising, coming in at $53 billion, and $75 billion, respectively. China accounted for the largest market for physical goods and services by far, hitting $484 billion compared to the US’s $277 billion.
The study notes that Apple collected less than 10% of the $1.3 trillion via commissions. Apple collects a 30% commission on the sale of digital goods and services purchased through the App Store. Developers that made up to $1 million in the previous year pay a reduced 15% commission as part of Apple’s Small Business Program.
For subscriptions, the company collects an initial 30% commission, which then drops to 15% for each subsequent year.
Governments around the world are scrutinizing Apple’s App Store practices. South Korea requires Apple and rival Google to offer alternative in-app payment methods in the country, while the European Union and Japan require the companies to give users the ability to access third-party app stores.
In the US, Apple is facing off against “Fortnite” developer Epic Games as part of the duo’s ongoing antitrust suit. At the heart of the matter is whether Epic should be able to circumvent Apple’s in-app payment system, thereby avoiding Apple’s App Store commissions.
Epic initially accused Apple of violating antitrust laws by requiring developers to use the company’s in-app payment systems. Ultimately, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple didn’t hold a monopoly over the market for “digital mobile gaming transactions,” but did violate California’s antitrust laws via anti-steering provisions in its App Store rules.
As part of the ruling, Apple was supposed to allow developers to offer payment options outside of the App Store. Apple did, however, also collect a 27% commission on those payments.
