Apple Says Its App Store Facilitated $519 Billions In Commerce Last Year

On Monday, Apple released a new study by economic consulting firm Analysis Group that suggests the App Store has an estimated total sales of $ 519 billion in 2019, including all revenue from physical products, services, and digital products.

Despite such a huge number, the Cupertino-based giant said it only earned 30% of the $61 billion in sales revenues related to digital products. Mobile games contribute the most in that figure, as well as in-app purchases, subscription fees, and paid apps. In-app advertising, most of which is for mobile games, accounts for $ 45 billion.

According to the study, for the remaining sales - including sales of ride-hailing apps and food delivery and phone retail stores of Best Buy and Target - up to $ 413 billion, Apple did not get anything from it.

But why are these numbers so important that Apple has to announce them? That's because the company wants that, not only developers but even regulators, must see the App Store as a sprawling economy - or as in Apple's term - "dynamic, competitive, and flourishing. "

This is all the more important when the iPhone maker and many other tech giants are under increased scrutiny from the US government. The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are now looking closely whether giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are having too much power and engaging in non-competitive behavior.

In particular, the company is facing a lot of criticism for its 30% revenue cut, which reduces the ability of the service to compete with them on it, such as Spotify when facing the Apple Music service. There is also another lawsuit from the developers that the iPhone maker is operating the App Store as a monopoly. The case between Apple and Spotify is also being investigated by the European Union.

The increased pressure from regulators has made Apple more friendly towards rivals and users, such as allowing Siri to support Spotify. In addition, Apple is also actively promoting the company's image to developers as a beneficiary in a symbiotic ecosystem, rather than a dictator of the platform.

Another thing worth noting in the App Store's total sales report is that the US accounts for less than half of the $ 517 billion in total sales. In total, US consumers only brought in US $ 138 billion, while China contributed US $ 246 billion of the above sales. No wonder why Apple is so fond of China.

>>> Huawei Surpasses Samsung To Become World's Biggest Phone Vendor