Apple’s App Store had a good year last year, generating over $64 billion, CNBC reported.
That’s an increase from the estimated $50 billion from 2019 and $48.5 billion in 2018, according to the report. The numbers from 2020 seem to suggest that the pandemic had given a strong boost to usage of the App Store, as people quarantined and stayed away from public gatherings to avoid contracting the virus.
The revenue for the App Store grew 28 percent in 2020, as compared to the 3.1 percent growth from 2019, according to the analysis from CNBC. The App Store has become a core area of growth for the company, and is reported as part of the Services division, which made $53.7 billion in revenue last fiscal year, which ended in September.
While the App Store doesn’t release how much it earns per year, the CNBC analysis comes from data points on the total Apple has paid developers, the report stated. Apple paid developers $200 billion since 2008, which is $45 billion more than the figure Apple announced in January 2020, and if that’s equal to around 70 percent of the App Store sales, then CNBC’s analysis comes out to $64 billion in gross sales last year.
But as the App Store continues to grow in revenue, it also becomes a lightning rod for critics pointing to it as one of the main points of evidence that Apple has too much power. A congressional subcommittee investigation found that Apple has a monopoly-sized power over iPhone app distribution, giving it “outsized profits,” CNBC reported.
The company charges a 30 percent commission for digital sales through the App Store, although it recently offered a new payment scheme where companies making less than $1 million can pay only a 15 percent commission.
PYMNTS reported that the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve was a particularly strong showing in 2020, with $1.8 billion over the week. There was also a record $540 million sales on New Year’s Day.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: THE DECEMBER 2020 SUBSCRIPTION BUNDLING REPORT
About: The PYMNTS Subscription Bundling Report, surveyed a census-balanced panel of 2,962 U.S. consumers to gauge how their attitudes toward bundled subscription services have changed during the pandemic, especially those offered by companies in the streaming sector. The report also examines how the knowledge that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available throughout the U.S. could affect their perceptions.
