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Apple

Apple's App Store Had Gross Sales Around $64 Billion Last Year and It's Growing Strongly Again (cnbc.com) 48

Apple's App Store grossed more than $64 billion in 2020, according to an analysis by CNBC. From a report: That's up from an estimated $50 billion in 2019 and $48.5 billion in 2018, according to the same analysis, suggesting that App Store sales growth accelerated strongly during the Covid-19 pandemic, as people sheltered at home and spent more time and money on apps and games. App Store revenue grew 28% in 2020, up from 3.1% growth in 2019, according to CNBCâ(TM)s analysis. Apple's App Store is a core growth area for the company. It's reported as part of Apple's Services division, which reported $53.7 billion in sales in Apple's fiscal 2020, which ended in September. The money that Apple makes from its App Store has become a flash point for critics of Apple which argue it has too much power. Apple charges 30% for digital sales through its platform, with a few exceptions. Apple recently altered its fee structure, and now it only takes a 15% cut from companies that generate less than $1 million in the App Store.
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Apple's App Store Had Gross Sales Around $64 Billion Last Year and It's Growing Strongly Again

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  • They are giving more to developers, so thats good. They make considerably more now than it costs to run. The percentages Apple keep as a commission for hosting, sales, and processing should be lowered.
    • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Friday January 08, 2021 @02:01PM (#60911732) Journal

      Apple talks about "protecting the user," but actually it's the kind of protection the mafia provides.

      • Apple talks about "protecting the user," but actually it's the kind of protection the mafia provides.

        Mafia? Really? Do you guys get this stuff from an Apple hater themed random talking points generator? I bet you maxed out the 'hyperbole' setting.

        • +1. Wish I had mod points.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by phantomfive ( 622387 )

          Since you are bad at understanding analogies, let me explain it for you:

          1) The Mafia provides protection/services, but mostly from problems created by themselves.

          2) The prices for the services provided by the Mafia are too expensive, even extortionary, but you have no choice if you want to have a business in the area.

          3) The Mafia claims to own an area which is actually owned by the people who bought it.

          3) Some people do get rich from working with the Mafia.

          All of these things are also true of Apple's app st

          • So Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are "Mafia" too?
            • Possibly? I haven't looked at their platforms closely enough to give an informed answer, so I will have to plead ignorance.

      • I pay extra for an iPhone. Because it'll work for a long time (including updates) I'm on a much slower upgrade cycle (so I probably spend less than others). Because they aggressively police the store I can spend less time worrying about malware. Because they've proven they'll at least give a damn about privacy I can worry less.

        I don't need my phone to also be a general purpose computer. I have computers. Hell, I have an Android tablet (actually, a couple), to play with or experiment with. But my phone i

        • None of those things you like are related to preventing side-loading, alternate app stores, or alternate payment providers.

          • I can get a research project that mostly works (non-Google Android), a spyware laden device that lets malware into the store (a Google Android) or an iPhone. Yes, there are theoretical other options, but they don't exist.

            Also, side-loading and alternative app stores are in fact related to the concept of a secure walled garden.

            • Also, side-loading and alternative app stores are in fact related to the concept of a secure walled garden.

              Oh yeah? You can't imagine a secure walled garden with side-loading as an option?

              • You can't imagine a secure walled garden with side-loading as an option?

                Correct. A secure walled garden is incompatible with sideloading. Also, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be chomping at the bit to sideload.

  • by JoeyRox ( 2711699 ) on Friday January 08, 2021 @02:03PM (#60911736)
    It's because they're insanely profitable.
    • It's because they're insanely profitable.

      Some claim [slashdot.org] Apple makes no profit from the app store.

  • The middleman business is GOOOOD!

    Are there still any lone wolves out there making a good living developing and supporting their own app?

  • by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Friday January 08, 2021 @02:09PM (#60911768)

    That means Apple made 10 to 20 billion in put profit just from that. How much expenses does the app store have? Hardware/server wise it's nothing .. it just serves up files. Wikipedia's servers do more and require more bandwidth and their entire server and hosting budget is under $1 million. Let's assume it costs Apple $5 million cause they'd use higher end hardware and hosting plus have higher paid employees. The other thing the app store does is vet apps .. from googling, looks like they get about 300,000 app submissions/updates per year. How many employees are needed for that? Let's say it takes 8 hours (one day of work) to review an app on average. That means 1000 employees could easily handle it (300 apps per year). We'll say 1200 for management overhead. Now .. how much would that cost? They could pay an average salary of $150k and still wouldn't have to spend $200 million.

    • That means Apple made 10 to 20 billion in put profit just from that. How much expenses does the app store have? Hardware/server wise it's nothing .. it just serves up files.

      That's not true at all.

      The App Store has to have the infrastructure to present a store for all devices. It has to manage payments, and tracking access to applications.

      Beyond that though, Apple has a vastly more massive data flow than wikipedia does, as the App Store has to manage updates. That means it does a lot more that "serving up

      • The App Store has to have the infrastructure to present a store for all devices. It has to manage payments,

        Interesting you should mention payments. Apple also makes a ton of profit off their payment system.

        • Interesting you don't think Apple has to pay credit card payment processing fees like everyone else. They may be a bit lower, but they still have to pay.

          • Apple pays a little bit lower, but charges even more. A nice fat margin.

            There are a lot of things Apple does that I like. But I don't have to like everything they do.

      • by Sebby ( 238625 )

        That means Apple made 10 to 20 billion in put profit just from that.

        Oh no no no! According to some people [slashdot.org], Apple makes not profit from the App Store.

    • I mean, they also have to pay a few percent to the credit card processors, etc. They do update rollouts. They provide a lot of back end metrics to developers.

      It's still a cash cow, and could easily be netting $10 billion a year

    • by Sebby ( 238625 )

      That means Apple made 10 to 20 billion in put profit just from that.

      Not according to some people. [slashdot.org]

  • my god, tim cook might lose 0.0000001 percent of the company market cap by paying people to stand in line when they leave work to rummage through their belongings because he cannot trust his own employees

  • And some softwares are only available in App Store and not from FTP and web sites. :(

  • I am not surprised, to be honest. People are eager to buy new things because it makes them happy. Even when it comes to the things they don't need, they still buy it. So, the same thing with apps. If I had an idea of a cool app, I would definitely think of staff augmentation [doit.software] to create a good thing

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