Apple May Have Generated Record Revenue Last Year From its App Store

According to something said this week by tech giant Apple, the company may have generated record revenue from its App Store last year.

The company said Monday that it paid developers $60 billion in 2021, or $260 billion total since the App Store launched in 2008.

The statistic came as part of a broader announcement from Apple about its services business.

Apple’s payments to developers account for between 70% and 85% of Apple’s total gross from its App Store, which takes between 15% and 30% of sales from digital purchases made in apps.

In 2019 Apple had paid developers a total of $155 billion since 2008. And at the end of 2020, it said it had paid $200 billion, an increase of $45 billion. Monday’s figures indicates an increase of $60 billion.

It was last year that Apple introduced the Small Business Program, which cut fees to 15% for developers who make under $1 million per year. According to estimates, as many as 98% of App Store developers fall into this category, but it accounts for only a small fraction of total sales.

The iPhone maker also introduced a program for news apps that would slash their fees to 15% if they provided content to Apple News in August. For all developers, Apple also only takes 15% of the second year of a subscription, instead of 30%.

If Apple’s commissions were uniformly at 30%, it grossed $85.71 billion in App Store sales in 2021 at the highest, according to CNBC analysis. If Apple’s commissions were all 15%, it would come in lower, at $70.58 billion.

Apple also said on Monday that it had 745 million paid subscriptions, which include Apple-provided services like Apple Music and iCloud, and also includes any customer who subscribes to an app through the App Store.

Last summer that figure was 700 million.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.