Apple has been cagey about its App Store revenue, but it revealed one major data point on Monday: The store has generated more than $230 billion for developers since its 2008 launch.
The App Store’s financials have come under scrutiny amid an antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games. Apple CEO Tim Cook repeatedly testified that the company doesn’t know if the App Store is profitable because it’s not a standalone business.
Epic argued that the App Store represents a monopoly, while Apple countered that it’s competitive with Samsung, Google, and others.
It is likely that the App Store is a key profit driver.
- A CNBC analysis found that the App Store generated $64 billion in 2020 gross revenue, assuming the company takes a 30% cut.
- In November, Apple reduced its cut to 15% for developers with under $1 million in revenue. Google made a similar adjustment in March.
- The App Store is part of Apple’s Services division, which profited $11.8 billion on $16.1 billion in revenue, for the three months ending on March 27.
Epic Games takes 12% from developer sales on its own app store.
Apple and Epic made their closing arguments on May 24. The verdict in their case is expected in August and could have long-term ramifications for the App Store and its revenue stream.
