App Store Supports Over 830,000 Jobs in UK, Germany, and France, Says Apple

[MacRumors]

Apple says its App Store now supports more than 330,000 jobs in the U.K., a 10% increase over the past year, despite the pressures of the global health crisis on the nation's economy.

According to Apple, 2020 was a "breakthrough year" for the iOS app economy, with developers in the U.K. generating more than £3.6 billion in total earnings, which represents 22% in growth compared to the previous year. The company says a similar trend was reflected in Europe, where the iOS app economy has grown to support 1.7 million jobs – a 7% percent increase since 2019. Apple published similar press releases in Germany and France, claiming that the App Store supports over a quarter of a million jobs in each of those two countries.

Growth in the UK was driven by the innovations and breakthrough success of UK developers, whose apps users relied on for learning, working out, keeping track of their health, or finding ways to stay connected and entertained. During the pandemic, people turned to UK workout apps like One You Couch to 5K, fitness plan app Fiit, and sleep support app Sleepiest Sleep Sounds Stories. UK developer Moshi, a sleep and mindfulness app for children, has seen a rapid growth in downloads and subscriptions over the last year, leading to a 50 percent expansion of its team with 10 new hires.

"In a year like no other, the UK has remained a vibrant and innovative hub for entrepreneurs and app developers," said Christopher Moser, senior director of the App Store. "More people in the UK than ever before are working as part of the iOS app ecosystem, creating exciting apps enjoyed by people all over the world."

In its UK press release, Apple highlighted a few App Store success stories from U.K. developers in 2020. These include Digital Workroom, which develops productivity apps like Noted and aids businesses trying to create their own branded apps, the online language learning community Busuu, and Hutch Games – creator of free-to-play titles like the popular F1 Manager, Top Drives, and Rebel Racing.

Apple says that U.K. developers have benefitted from its App Store Small Business Program, which launched earlier this year and introduced a 15% reduced commission rates for developers who earned under $1 million in 2020. Apple takes 30 percent commission from developers making over one million dollars per year.

The Small Business Program has received praise from many developers, however some larger developers such as Spotify and Epic Games – both of which accuse Apple of anti-competitive behavior – have since criticized the program, saying it undermines the ‌App Store‌'s rules.

Article Link: App Store Supports Over 830,000 Jobs in UK, Germany, and France, Says Apple

 

[jeff127]

Propaganda to try and justify not paying all their taxes?

 

[farewelwilliams]

this is what 30% pays for. healthy developer resources to make successful apps.

30% more than fair. 15% is a steal.

 

[somnolentsurfer]

Curious whether this includes Apple Arcade games made in the UK, and whether that contributes significantly to the revenue growth.

 

[obamtl]

I'm curious about how they calculate this, and whether it accounts for alternatives. Sure if there were no native apps on phones, web apps would dominate, and we'd still have many of the services we enjoy, they'd just not be as convenient, so how much of the value add is truly from the app store?

 

[otternonsense]

Pardon me while I go off on a tangent. This doughy wonky art style of flat badly drawn misshaped humanoids that you see from App Store hero images to Nike billboards to virtually every startup's brand promotion, needs to die off already.

 

[LarxJo]

Governments should then also remind than the taxes that Apple would pay without evading taxes would support tens of thousands of doctor, help to fight corona, increase public health, education.

Then should also point out that thanks to those taxes, Apple actually exists and can make a lot more money. What does Apple need that is paid by taxes? Engineers and competent employees in general, road and security. So Apple, do as you say to your developer: "Pay for a service without which you would be nothing".

 

[Kierkegaarden]

No matter how you look at it, this is great news for developers. Would these jobs be there if Apple hadn’t revolutionized the mobile app distribution system? Either way, you have to give them credit for what they created — and they deserve what they’ve asked for since day one. Unfortunately, some people don’t appreciate what Apple has contributed and prefer to attack them instead of thank them. Pathetic.

 

[ducknalddon]

Pardon me while I go off on a tangent. This doughy wonky art style of flat badly drawn misshaped humanoids that you see from App Store hero images to Nike billboards to virtually every startup's brand promotion, needs to die off already.

Especially that one on the top right who seems to be picking his nose.

 

[ducknalddon]

No matter how you look at it, this is great news for developers.

It's almost certainly an exageration.

 

[john9876]

That would be over 1% of the entire working population of the UK. Seems high.

 

[Crazy Badger]

How much tax is Apple paying on their 30%?

30% might have been reasonable at the beginning, but I think Apple is pushing their luck now and need to rethink.

 

[opfreak]

supports is the key word. 3.6 billion / 330k = ~11,000 per person.

 

[I7guy]

Poor Spotify and epic, they aren’t greedy enough and haven’t made billions off of apples ingenious work.

 

[Freeangel1]

which is it? 330,000 or 830,000? Typo in the title?

 

[testcard]

Pardon me while I go off on a tangent. This doughy wonky art style of flat badly drawn misshaped humanoids that you see from App Store hero images to Nike billboards to virtually every startup's brand promotion, needs to die off already.

Rejected artwork from The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.

 

[trash eighty]

which is it? 330,000 or 830,000? Typo in the title?

330K, helpful if they'd had linked to the press release

UK iOS app economy has a breakthrough year, grows to support 330,000 jobs - Apple (UK)

 

[Canubis]

Pardon me while I go off on a tangent. This doughy wonky art style of flat badly drawn misshaped humanoids that you see from App Store hero images to Nike billboards to virtually every startup's brand promotion, needs to die off already.

Indeed, I really don't get who greenlighted this at Apple. I don't think it fits their brand language at all.
Thanks for bringing this up. Thought it was just me, but I really dislike these artworks from the bottom of my heart… cannot exactly say why… but the App Store has become an unpleasant experience for me with these weird drawings.

 

[MJaP]

Pardon me while I go off on a tangent. This doughy wonky art style of flat badly drawn misshaped humanoids that you see from App Store hero images to Nike billboards to virtually every startup's brand promotion, needs to die off already.

It's called Alegria, and it emerged on Facebook (the embodyment of all that is evil) in 2017 and has been spreading at an alarming rate like a virus ever since. Sad to see Apple is bowing to such awful design fads, both with this and the "neumorphism" (soft skeuomorphism) that they've vommited on some of their most hidious new Big Sur icons.

 

[iBungie]

Do we even have 830,000 jobs in the UK at present?

 

[Steve121178]

UK based companies that outsource app development to India.

 

[Smooch]

Since when does Apple use those horrible Alegria figures?

 

[m.x]

330K, helpful if they'd had linked to the press release

UK iOS app economy has a breakthrough year, grows to support 330,000 jobs - Apple (UK)

That number still seems a bit too high. According to Statista, the working population in the UK is 32.350.000. This would roughly mean that every hundredth person is connected to the App Store. If you include the market share of iOS (50%), it would mean that 1 in 50 with an iOS device is working in the iOS App economy...

This argument reminds my of the German car lobbyism. They always say that every 7th or 8th job in Germany is connected to the car industry, when in reality, of a working population of ~45.000.000 people, only around 830.000 people are directly working in the car industry - that's like every 55th employment. The calculation they use includes every connection to a car manufacturer they can find, I would argue that Apple does the same.

(edit: calculations corrected)

 

[Alan Wynn]

supports is the key word. 3.6 billion / 330k = ~11,000 per person.

Which makes me wonder what this even means? I hate statistics with no explanation of their methodology.

 

[The Phazer]

That figure is absolute nonsense.

They're going to get laughed out the room if they're approaching politicians in the UK with it. It presumably includes every Deliveroo driver in the country.