App Store Developers Paid Over $60 Billion in 2021, Says Apple

Apple paid out around $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,43,300 crore) to developers in 2021, the company revealed in its latest App Store figures. The new figures show an increase in money paid to developers compared to previous years, which comes after Apple’s decision to reduce the commission collected from smaller developers. The company also revealed that customers had spent “more than ever” on the App Store between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, without revealing the total spending by all customers during this period.

The Cupertino-based company revealed that developers had earned over $260 billion (roughly Rs. 19,21,486 crore) since the App Store was launched in 2008, a jump of around $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,43,300 crore) since Apple last revealed these figures a year ago. Apple keeps updated lists of the most downloaded apps and games on the App Store. Back in January 2018, Apple revealed that developers had earned $86 billion (roughly Rs. 6,35,400 crore) since the App Store was launched, which suggests that the figure has grown by over $170 billion (roughly Rs. 12,56,000 crore) over the past four years.

As previously mentioned, Apple’s figures on remuneration to developers demonstrate the growth in earnings from the App Store. In November 2020, Apple changed its App Store commission policy to collect 15 percent of sales for a “vast majority” of developers on the service, who earn less than $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.4 crore) in annual sales across their apps. Apple had also revealed that if a developer’s business crossed the threshold the 30 percent commission would apply to them for the rest of the year.

The company also reiterated that there were 745 million subscriptions from users on the company’s platforms, shared between Apple and the developers on the App Store, which continues to rake in money for the company and developers, as the company’s figures show. The company also revealed that spending by customers between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve grew by double digits, but stopped short of revealing that number.

While Apple’s figures show a large increase in money earned by developers, there is no way to tell how many developers benefitted from the increase. Apple has been facing increasing criticism from developers on the App Store over fraudulent apps, and policies that are perceived as too restrictive. Apple’s biggest legal challenge in 2021 was the dispute with Epic Games after the latter was banned from the App Store over in-app purchases.