By: Nick Gambino
How durable and resilient is the App Store? Well, a third-party study undertaken by the Analysis Group showed that developers in the App Store brought in $1.1 trillion in billings and sales in 2022. That’s a pretty penny considering it’s not the only player in town like when it first launched 15 years ago.
The breakdown goes like this: $910 billion in physical goods and services, $109 billion in in-app ads and $104 billion in digital goods and services. That’s 29% growth in the App Store ecosystem in just a year. So I guess you can say the App Store is still thriving.
What’s even more surprising is not that they generated $1.1 trillion – an impressive number no doubt – but that 90 % of that money was handled directly by developers with Apple getting no commission on it.
“We’ve never been more hopeful about – or more inspired by – the incredible community of developers around the world,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release announcing the findings of the Analysis Group study. “As this report shows, the App Store is a vibrant, innovative marketplace where opportunity thrives, and we’re as committed as ever to investing in developers’ success and the app economy’s future.”
Beyond simply being a cash cow, money generator, Apple has cited a separate study from the Progressive Policy Institute that indicates that the App Store also provides jobs around the globe. Specifically, there are more than 4.8 million jobs in Europe and the U.S. currently supported by it. That breaks down to about 2.4 million jobs in each of those regions.
The Analysis Group study lays out a ton of numbers across the App Store’s 15 years including how many apps were downloaded between 2008 and 2022 (that’s over 370 billion) and how many more app options exist in the store now compared to when it launched (123 times more available). If you’re interested you can read the full study here.
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