Apple has published a new press release on its Newsroom website today underscoring the economic impact of the App Store. Ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference kicking off next week, Apple touts that developers grow total billings and sales in the App Store ecosystem by 24% to $643 billion in 2020.
Apple’s press release cites a new study from the Analysis Group, which it helped support. The study says that the number of “small developers” worldwide has increased by 40% since 2015 and now makes up more than 90% of total developers.
The category of “small developers” is defined as those with fewer than 1 million downloads and less than $1 million in earnings across all their apps in a given year. The latter qualification here also makes these developers eligible for Apple’s App Store Small Business Program, which reduces the App Store commission from 30% to 15%.
The study found that 1 in 4 of these small developers have seen 25% yearly growth in earnings:
Also in the press release, Apple highlights the stories of a handful of developers, including Adam Debreczeni, Pedro Wunderlich, Andres Canella, Goran Ivašić, and more. Apple touts how the App Store helped developers reach new customers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, how its APIs help developers enhance their apps, and more.
More than 1 in 4 small developers who sell digital goods and services on the App Store have grown their earnings by an average of at least 25 percent each year for the past five years. Nearly 80 percent of small developers on the App Store are active across multiple countries’ storefronts — and on average, developers that sell digital goods and services on the App Store on multiple storefronts have earnings from users in more than 40 countries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the press release:
This is the second year in a row that Apple has published a study from the Analysis Group in a press release prior to WWDC. You can read Apple’s full post about this study from the Analysis Group right here.
“Developers on the App Store prove every day that there is no more innovative, resilient or dynamic marketplace on earth than the app economy. The apps we’ve relied on through the pandemic have been life-changing in so many ways — from groceries delivered to our homes, to teaching tools for parents and educators, to an imaginative and ever-expanding universe of games and entertainment. The result isn’t just incredible apps for users: it’s jobs, it’s opportunity, and it’s untold innovation that will power global economies for many years to come.”
