App Intelligence Provider More than $10 billion — Apple’s US App Store raking last year, according to a new analysis from App Intelligence Provider AppFigures.
The company estimates show that US app store revenues more than doubled between 2020 and 2024. In 2020, Apple’s App Store committee share was approximately $4.766 billion, up over $10.1 billion by 2024.
Based on AppFigures data, US App Store developers used Apple’s payment system to generate $33.68 billion in revenue from apps and games in 2024, bringing back $23.57 billion after Apple’s cuts.
Apple typically doesn’t make the App Store revenue during its revenue, but it published a report in May 2023, saying that the App Store generated an estimated $100 billion in bills for digital goods and services in 2022.
However, an analysis by AppFigures revealed that the App Store made $61.5 billion worldwide in 2022, and grew to $91.3 billion in 2024.
That leads to an analysis of AppFigures and Apple’s own unique contradiction.
This can be explained in the important caveats in Apple’s reports. Under Apple’s chart, the “billing and selling” figures are “not the same as App Store Billings.” That’s important here.
TechCrunch Events
Berkeley, California
|
June 5th
Book now
When Apple wrote the report, the company was trying to show how big it was and how important it was to the overall economy, so it combined the revenue from the App Store with revenue generated outside the App Store to generate a total of the “billing and selling” category.
In the report, Apple calculated a portion of the total revenues for apps that will be driven by the App Store, even if the purchases were made elsewhere. For example, if a user is purchasing a Hulu subscription online and spends 60% of their time streaming Hulu on an Apple device, Apple believes that it has driven 60% of their spending. (To determine usage, the report relied on third-party sources such as market research companies to estimate how much usage was generated on smartphones on tablets, desktops, or televisions.)
Apple also allows businesses to distribute apps through in-app purchases, but these are not visible in the App Store.
“Serious irreparable harm?”
Looking at the figures around Apple App Store revenues is more relevant than ever, in the wake of a recent court ruling that prevents Apple from charging a 27% fee for transactions made outside the App Store.
Apple initially sought to comply with a court injunction stemming from its antitrust battle with Fortnite Maker Epic Games by making changes that did not harm the interests of the App Store.
To that end, Apple last year gave developers a way to file exceptions from the App Store rules, allowing customers to add web links within the app for external purchases. However, Apple continued to charge a 27% fee for these purchases and decided how the links on the website would appear. (This also included the use of a “scary screen” to warn consumers of the risk of purchasing outside the app store.)
Last week, a judge determined that Apple was in a “willful violation” of its 2021 injunction.
This decision forced Apple to update its US app store rules. This allows developers to link to other ways that consumers can make purchases without obstacles or commissions. Since then, several apps have utilized features that introduce web payments such as Spotify, Amazon Kindle, and Patreon. One small game emulator called Delta also supports itself through Patreon membership.
Apple is suing the decision, claiming in its latest filing that the ruling will cause “serious irreparable harm.”
“These restrictions are based on Apple’s actions that are costly and have never been found to be illegal each year,” the Apple submission states. “In fact, they were imposed to punish Apple for not allegedly violating previous state law injunctions that were invalid in itself.”
This argument won’t work with developers as many believe that Apple should lower fees for not only small business developers but everyone from a few years ago.
An analysis of AppFigures destroyed the revenues of the US App Store in 2024 with apps and games that Apple generated approximately $6.28 billion and $3.83 billion respectively.
Together, these figures highlight how Apps’ revenue is important to Apple’s revenue, and why it’s fighting hard to maintain control.