Apple today announced that its App Store ecosystem supported $519 billion in billings and sales worldwide in 2019, based on an independent study conducted by Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm in the United States.
Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned over $155 billion from app and in-app purchases, with a quarter of those earnings occurring in 2019. However, the App Store also facilitates the sale of a wide variety of physical goods and services, ranging from Uber and Lyft rides to Postmates and DoorDash deliveries, which the study found accounted for $413 billion of the last year's total.
Of this $413 billion, some categories include:
$268 billion from retail apps such as Target, Best Buy, and Etsy
$57 billion from travel apps such as Expedia and United
$40 billion from ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft
$31 billion from food delivery apps such as DoorDash and Grubhub
Apple CEO Tim Cook:
The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life, and users can find safe and trusted tools to make their lives better. In a challenging and unsettled time, the App Store provides enduring opportunities for entrepreneurship, health and well-being, education, and job creation, helping people adapt quickly to a changing world. We're committed to doing even more to support and nurture the global App Store community — from one-developer shops in nearly every country to businesses that employ thousands of workers — as it continues to foster innovation, create jobs, and propel economic growth for the future.
Apple said the App Store now has nearly two million apps and is accessed by half a billion people each week across 175 countries.
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Macworld claims to have access to an ...
> The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life
Except if they compete with Apple. Or try to offer free speech. Or need to escape Apple's narrow sandbox. Or have a novel business model that can't work with 30% overhead. Etc.
offer free speech in an App Store what does that even mean? Please elaborate. So developers that make good money, are now going to bite the hand that feeds them; pretty much?! I get changing default iOS apps to third party but asking for no fees when distribution, support for over 12 different mode iPhones to make money off of, guaranteed per sale income (no refunds) and ability to upload test keys for apps? Not agreeing on that ever.
every business should be able to work with some overhead. If you’re coding completely 24/7 no other income then it’s your responsibility to deal with rent, food, internet and other bills not Apple.
App Store is great for developers. Any developers complaining about the lack of "alternative app stores" clearly doesn't understand the user experience side of having 1 app store. They also don't understand that having 1 app store allows Apple to concentrate all of their resources to making it better for the developer.
Impressive and good news for Apple. This is the future for Apple and it knows it -- services, recurring revenue, and software. It's just far more profitable and sustainable over time.
Cook & Co. has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on "App Discovery" in their "curated" iOS App Store !
UN-Discovered Gem Apps sit Idle, while apps from BIG public companies that appear to be near-copy-cats of other similar apps (flooded) in the App Store, get recommended as App of the Day ... see today's Photoshop app !
Strike that, it's actually "two" MAJOR complaints:
> The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life
Except if they compete with Apple. Or try to offer free speech. Or need to escape Apple's narrow sandbox. Or have a novel business model that can't work with 30% overhead. Etc.
