With only days to go before Apple’s annual developers conference, WWDC, takes place, the company has announced that the App Store “helps developers reach new heights.” According to Apple, the global App Store supported $1.3 trillion in billings and sales in 2024. For more than 90 per cent of the billings and sales facilitated by the App Store ecosystem, developers did not pay any commission to Apple.
"It's incredible to see so many developers design great apps, build successful businesses, and reach Apple users around the world," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "This report is a testament to the many ways developers are enriching people's lives with app and game experiences, while creating opportunity and driving new innovations. We're proud to support their success.”
According to the new study by economists professor Andrey Fradkin from Boston University Questrom School of Business and Dr Jessica Burley from Analysis Group, that in 2024, developer billings and sales for digital goods and services totalled $131 billion, driven by games, photo and video editing apps, and enterprise tools. Sales of physical goods and services exceeded $1 trillion, thanks to rising demand for online food delivery and pickup, as well as grocery orders. In-app advertising revenue from ads placed by developers in their apps was $150 billion.
Spending across digital goods and services, physical goods and services, and in-app advertising has more than doubled since 2019. Physical goods and services experienced the strongest growth (2.6x), driven in particular by rapid increases in food delivery and pickup, and grocery spending.
Touching upon regional growth trends, the study says that the App Store’s engine of commerce provides developers a global distribution platform “that allows them to reach users around the world, attracting over 813 million average weekly visitors worldwide”.
The study found that over the last five years in particular, billings and sales facilitated by the App Store ecosystem more than doubled in the US, China, and Europe.
In China, e-commerce marketplaces expanded substantially and online grocery spending grew over five-fold since 2019. Food delivery and pickup spending more than tripled in Europe, outpacing the growth in already popular categories like general retail and travel. In Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and India, travel apps were major spending categories.
In the last five years, user spending on apps that support digital content creation has seen a steady increase. As a result, photo and video editing apps like Adobe creative tools have found success and have increasingly introduced new features.