Apple Says Developers Have Earned Over $70 Billion From App Store Since It Launched

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that its global developer community has earned over $70 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.

"People everywhere love apps and our customers are downloading them in record numbers," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Seventy billion dollars earned by developers is simply mind-blowing. We are amazed at all of the great new apps our developers create and can't wait to see them again next week at our Worldwide Developers Conference."

Given that Apple takes a 30 percent cut of App Store sales, including in-app purchases, the App Store's all-time revenue has likely passed $100 billion.

Apple said App Store downloads have grown over 70 percent in the past 12 months, led by the Gaming and Entertainment categories. Lifestyle apps, as well as Health and Fitness apps, have experienced over 70 percent growth in the past year. The Photo and Video category has also grown nearly 90 percent in that time.

Last month, following its quarterly earnings results, Apple said App Store revenue grew 40 percent year over year to set an all-time quarterly record, but it didn't disclose the exact amount. Apple said the App Store's success has been boosted by "breakout hits" like Pokémon GO and Super Mario Run.

Apple last disclosed its App Store payout amount in August 2016, when CEO Tim Cook said developers had earned over $50 billion.

Article Link: Apple Says Developers Have Earned Over $70 Billion From App Store Since It Launched

 

[jonnysods]

That's crazy. Such a cool idea and then everyone else (Google, Microsoft) followed suit

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I made about $5.00 out of the $70 Billon, and didn't get a check yet, because it's a very small amount.

 

[keysofanxiety]

That's crazy. Such a cool idea and then everyone else (Google, Microsoft) followed suit

Well agreed it was a good idea, though the concept of apps on a device was far from a new one, and ironically Jobs was really opposed to the App Store in the first instance. I think the original iPhone only had Safari widgets or something.

There was a lot of internal pressure from inside Apple and external pressure from developers to really open up the iPhone and let people make proper apps for it. It's great that they did it though I doubt they honestly imagined the iPhone selling nearly a million units a day within a decade either. The iPhone is such an unbelievable success story.

 

[I am Sampson]

Weird to announce that now and not at WWDC.

 

[SoN1NjA]

Weird to announce that now and not at WWDC.

I bet they'll mention it at WWDC

 

[AngerDanger]

That's crazy. Such a cool idea and then everyone else (Google, Microsoft) followed suit

Including Apple, if I recall, who initially planned on having web apps serve as the primary way to consume content on iPhones. Thank Cydia for demonstrating the potential of a dedicated App Store.

 

[djcerla]

That's a mind blowing figure.

The MR forum folks that claims Apple has no "vision" since Steve Jobs passing should remember he was strongly against the App Store.

 

[cambookpro]

Just calculated, have earned a solid 0.000000082% of that

 

[imran5720]

Did they tell how much apple made from developers...

 

[Zmmyt]

Well agreed it was a good idea, though the concept of apps on a device was far from a new one, and ironically Jobs was really opposed to the App Store in the first instance. I think the original iPhone only had Safari widgets or something.

There was a lot of internal pressure from inside Apple and external pressure from developers to really open up the iPhone and let people make proper apps for it. It's great that they did it though I doubt they honestly imagined the iPhone selling nearly a million units a day within a decade either. The iPhone is such an unbelievable success story.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were aiming for apps from the very start but waited until the hardware and infrastructure was up to stcratch. Only to fool the others into thinking apps wouldn't be the way to go and then not to invest in development.

 

[nikosl7]

So apple made 30B just by using the Developers' IP. Good.

 

[whooleytoo]

I bet they'll mention it at WWDC

Yeah, for the first hour (probably with an accompanying video) while we all wait patiently for the "good stuff"!

 

[Theophany]

So apple made 30B just by using the Developers' IP. Good.

Distribution costs money and distribution on a hugely popular, walled garden ecosystem costs lots of money.

 

[Jsameds]

So apple made 30B just by using the Developers' IP. Good.

Let's not forget they set up the entire end-to-end infrastructure to create and distribute the apps, all the way from designing and releasing the applications used to program them - and even making their own programming language to boot - hosting said apps on their servers, designing the operating system used to run the apps, and last but not least designing and producing the actual hardware devices that run them.

Let's not forget that little part.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Including Apple, if I recall, who initially planned on having web apps serve as the primary way to consume content on iPhones. Thank Cydia for demonstrating the potential of a dedicated App Store.

That's true about Cydia, for those who were craving apps way back in the summer of 2007 with the new iPhone. I bet most people don't remember or realize about that.

 

[69Mustang]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were aiming for apps from the very start but waited until the hardware and infrastructure was up to stcratch. Only to fool the others into thinking apps wouldn't be the way to go and then not to invest in development.

No that's not what happened. The history is well documented. @keysofanxiety laid out a pretty good synopsis. The app store was one of the key the driving forces in the success of the iPhone. Pretty amazing that 1 decision can have such far ranging ramifications.

 

[haruhiko]

Most of the money is earned by IAP infested games. Sadly.

 

[BuddyTronic]

Did they tell how much apple made from developers...

... Well yes I think so! it's 1/3rd right? The people holding AAPL stock know. Money makes the world go around.

 

[chr1s60]

Including Apple, if I recall, who initially planned on having web apps serve as the primary way to consume content on iPhones. Thank Cydia for demonstrating the potential of a dedicated App Store.

I don't believe that Apple ever intended on being completely web based. At the time of the release, it was the easiest option because they hadn't figured out how to handle the App store and do so correctly without compromising phones. They couldn't come out and say here is this fantastic device, at some point you will have apps. The web apps were an easy temporary solution that didn't show other manufacturers their true intentions.

There is a reason most developers choose to go with iOS over other platforms if they are only developing for one. That is because Apple took their time and did things the right way. I won't debate that Installer/Cydia helped things along or that some features were taken directly from jailbreak tweaks, but I don't believe Installer/Cydia influenced the idea to add an App store.

 

[nikosl7]

Distribution costs money and distribution on a hugely popular, walled garden ecosystem costs lots of money.

The walled garden is paid by the devices which includes the OS cost.

How come and Apple/MS/Google can have 30% of MY revenue just to ALLOW me to provide an app for a specific platform?

And no Apple did not pay 30B to amazon to have your app in the store.

 

[Zaft]

One of the main reasons developers will choose IOS first.

Next step is allow us to set our own default apps please.

 

[wigby]

Apple today announced that its global developer community has earned over $70 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.Given that Apple takes a 30 percent cut of App Store sales, including in-app purchases, the App Store's all-time revenue has likely passed $100 billion.

Apple said App Store downloads have grown over 70 percent in the past 12 months, led by the Gaming and Entertainment categories. Lifestyle apps, as well as Health and Fitness apps, have experienced over 70 percent growth in the past year. The Photo and Video category has grown nearly 90 percent in that time.

Last month, following its quarterly earnings results, Apple said App Store revenue grew 40 percent year over year to set an all-time quarterly record, but it didn't disclose the exact amount. Apple said the App Store's success has been boosted by "breakout hits" like Pokémon GO and Super Mario Run.

Article Link: Apple Says Developers Have Earned Over $70 Billion From App Store Since It Launched

Why announce this today instead of waiting a few days for WWDC? Perhaps Apple is going to do an abbreviated news/PR update this year in order to get right to a lot of new products!

 

[Stella]

I'd like to have the ability to side load applications without having to use Xcode. many iOS apps are one trick horses. The full ability of iOS apps have been restricted by Apple.



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Including Apple, if I recall, who initially planned on having web apps serve as the primary way to consume content on iPhones. Thank Cydia for demonstrating the potential of a dedicated App Store.

It was a marketing pitch by Jobs. Apple didn't have Apps, so jobs had to go the WebApp route - on a slow Edge connection.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

So apple made 30B just by using the Developers' IP. Good.

The App Store provides a lot. Keep in mind that for us developers, 30% is nothing compared to the 40-50% that a normal reseller takes.

The App Store provides a place to be seen. It means small developers who would never be found normally, now have the chance to be seen by an audience of millions. They build a market place and that has HUGE value.

Imagine you're trying to sell you hot sauce. How will your product be found? Getting your product into a big grocery chain like Costco means that millions could see and purchase it. That's what Apple is providing everyone with the App Store. Without that, these developers would just be selling it on their little websites which few would find due to their limited marketing abilities to rank well in search engines and be found.

Developers could choose to instead develop for Android and not pay those fees but Apple has created an ecosystem where people are cool with paying for good apps. Apple users spend on average 4x more than Android users. They're much more willing to pay for an app and that's hugely attractive to anyone looking to sell an app.

They also provide an easy way to update apps, advertise them, monitor sales, and many other tools that small developers wouldn't normally have access to.

Complain all you like about the 30% cut that Apple takes but the truth is that few developers are complaining. We get far more from the deal than the small fee we pay.