Every January, Apple releases the total amount of money that App Store developers have earned since 2008, a data point that allows analysts and Apple investors to get an idea of how much money the App Store makes.
This year’s disclosure suggests that Apple’s App Store growth has plateaued.
On Tuesday, Apple said it has paid $320 billion to developers, up from $260 billion as of last year, a jump of $60 billion. Developers receive between 70% and 85% of gross sales, depending on if they qualify for Apple’s reduced rate.
If all developers paid a 30% cut to Apple, Apple’s App Store grossed more than $85 billion in 2022, based on a CNBC analysis. If Apple’s commissions were all 15%, the App Store’s estimated gross would come in lower, around $70 billion.
It’s the same amount of sales as Apple suggested with its data point last year, when the company said it had paid developers $60 billion in 2021.
This is a rough estimation that could vary because it’s unclear how many developers pay the lower 15% cut, versus the 30% cut, and because the stats Apple shares are rounded.
Attempts to extrapolate the size of the App Store business from developer earnings are inaccurate, Apple said, because the commission ranges from 15% to 30%, and the vast majority of developers pay the lower commission under the App Store Small Business Program that gives a lower cut to app makers who gross under $1 million per year.
Apple said in its release that 2022 was a “record” year for the App Store, and revealed 900 million subscriptions, up from 745 million subscriptions in 2021. Apple’s stat includes anyone who subscribes to a service through Apple’s App store, not just its own first-party services like Apple TV+ and Music.
But Tuesday’s data point underscores that App Store growth slowed last year, which is important for investors because the App Store is a major part of Apple’s services business, and is a profit engine for the company.
Apple’s services business grew in fiscal 2022 to $78.1 billion, a 14% increase. But that was a significant slowdown from the 27% growth rate the division posted in fiscal 2021.
Apple is dealing with tough comparisons to elevated 2021 and 2020 app use and sales as people bought games and software while riding out the Covid pandemic. Apple is also facing consumer uncertainty around the world as interest rates rise and economists worry about a possible recession.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring has been following slowing App Store growth. App Store net revenue decreased for six straight months from June to November, according to his data, before growing again in December.
Woodring wrote in a note this month that app sales will grow in 2023 because the year-over-year comparisons will be easier and as some app price increases in international markets late last year will start to benefit Apple.
“While App Store growth remains near its lowest levels in history, and we acknowledge the global consumer remains challenged, we are encouraged to see growth trajectory continue to improve after bottoming in September,” Woodring wrote.
Correction: Apple said in its release that 2022 was a “record” year for the App Store, and revealed 900 million subscriptions, up from 745 million subscriptions in 2021. An earlier version misstated a year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
Wall Street and Apple investors cheered the pause on Chinese tariffs. Apple stock was up 6% in trading on Monday, versus 3% for the Nasdaq.
“I spoke to Tim Cook this morning, and he’s going to, I think, even up his numbers,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “$500 billion, he’s going to be building a lot of plants in the United States for Apple. And we look forward to that.”
Apple previously said in February it would spend $500 billion to expand many of its operations in the U.S., including assembling AI servers in Houston.
Any cooling of a U.S.-China trade war is expected to boost Apple, which does the majority of its device production in the country, and also counts the region as its third-largest by sales.
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Still, it’s not clear how much Monday’s announcement immediately helped Apple.
In April, most of Apple’s most important products, such as smartphones and computers, received exemptions on some of the highest 145% tariffs, but there are still 30% tariffs on Chinese imports even after Sunday’s deal. Apple still faces 10% tariffs in some of its secondary production locations, such as India and Vietnam.
The Trump administration wants Apple to bring device production, including iPhone manufacturing, to the United States, a move that many experts believe would be unlikely and expensive.
Earlier this month, Cook told investors about the company’s tariff strategy on an earnings call. He said that Apple is currently sourcing American-bound products from production locations in Vietnam and India, but didn’t want to speculate beyond June, calling the situation “difficult to predict.”
HANGZHOU, CHINA – JUNE 3, 2024 – The NVIDIA logo and the Apple logo are pictured in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China, June 6, 2024. On June 5, Eastern time, Nvidia’s stock market value exceeded $3 trillion, officially surpassing Apple’s market value and becoming the world’s second largest technology giant by market value. It is worth noting that in just over 3 months, Nvidia’s market value soared from $2 trillion to $3 trillion. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Global technology and chip stocks rallied on Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to pause most tariffs on each other’s goods.
Technology stocks — such as semiconductor firms and smartphone makers — have been hit hard as trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies threatened to disrupt supply chains and hurt some of the biggest U.S. businesses.
But investors breathed a sigh of relief after talks between the U.S. and China over the weekend yielded a temporary pause in “reciprocal” tariffs.
In the U.S., Nvidia, which still faces a number of restrictions on the chips it is allowed to ship to China, was around 4% higher in premarket trade, while AMD was up 5%. Broadcom was also around 5% higher, along with Qualcomm.
Other companies in the semiconductor supply chain also jumped. Marvell, which last week postponed a previously scheduled investor day due to macroeconomic uncertainty, surged 7.5% in premarket trade.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest chipmaker, saw its U.S.-listed shares jump around 4% in the premarket. TSMC’s Taiwan-listed stock closed before the tariff announcement.
In Europe, ASML, a supplier of critical machinery required to manufacture the most advanced chips, rallied 4.5% in early trade. Infineon was also sharply higher.
Semiconductors and some electronics received an exemption from President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs last month, but the U.S. signaled the reprieve was temporary and that these products could still be in line for special duties.
Investors have been concerned about the impact on major tech stocks, especially those with exposure to China such as Apple and Amazon, whose shares have been under pressure this year.
Amazon was up more than 8% in premarket trade Monday. Many sellers on Amazon rely on Chinese products.
U.S.-listed Chinese tech stocks also surged. Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com were higher, alongside internet firm Baidu.
“With US/China clearly on an accelerated path for a broader deal we believe new highs for the market and tech stocks are now on the table in 2025 as investors will likely focus on the next steps in these trade discussions which will happen over the coming months,” Daniel Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Monday.
“This morning is a huge win for the bulls and a best case scenario post this weekend in our view.”
Paxton sued Google in 2022 for allegedly unlawfully tracking and collecting the private data of users.
The attorney general said the settlement, which covers allegations in two separate lawsuits against the search engine and app giant, dwarfed all past settlements by other states with Google for similar data privacy violations.
Google’s settlement comes nearly 10 months after Paxton obtained a $1.4 billion settlement for Texas from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to resolve claims of unauthorized use of biometric data by users of those popular social media platforms.
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a statement on Friday.
“For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won,” said Paxton.
“This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, which involves allegations related to the Chrome browser’s incognito setting, disclosures related to location history on the Google Maps app, and biometric claims related to Google Photo.
Castaneda said Google does not have to make any changes to products in connection with the settlement and that all of the policy changes that the company made in connection with the allegations were previously announced or implemented.
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” Castaneda said.
“We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.”
