Simply forward of its Worldwide Builders Convention subsequent month, Apple on Thursday announced new figures associated to the U.S. App Retailer’s monetary success. The corporate says its U.S. App Retailer ecosystem has generated $406 billion in developer billings and gross sales in 2024 — a determine that’s almost tripled in measurement since 2019, when it then generated $142 billion.

Apple additionally made a degree to notice that, for 90% of the billings and gross sales facilitated by the App Retailer, builders paid no fee.

The brand new figures come from an Apple-funded research carried out by Professor Andrey Fradkin from Boston College Questrom Faculty of Enterprise and economist Dr. Jessica Burley from Evaluation Group. Evaluation Group has been working with Apple for years amid rising antitrust scrutiny to create reviews and research that showcase the App Retailer’s market energy in a extra favorable gentle and as a internet constructive for builders.

Specifically, these research have careworn that solely a small sliver of Apple’s developer base even pays Apple commissions, and nearly all of those that achieve this are on a Small Marketing strategy or different applications the place their fee is lowered from the usual 30% to fifteen%.

Nonetheless, these findings haven’t protected Apple from being pressured to open up the App Retailer to elevated competitors within the U.S.

Final month, U.S. District Choose Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple had violated the court’s order arising from Fortnite maker Epic Games’ lawsuit that had required Apple to reform its App Retailer’s coverage round exterior funds. On account of that ruling, Apple was pressured to let developers add links to their app that point to web payment options, the place Apple shouldn’t be allowed to take a fee.

Apple is now within the course of of appealing the ruling.

The years-long battle over App Retailer commissions has led to elevated hostility and disappointment from members of the iOS developer neighborhood, who believe that their purposes are a part of the rationale for the iPhone’s historic success. Many really feel they need to be handled with extra gratitude for his or her efforts, and never as a useful resource to extract cash from.

Apple, alternatively, staunchly believes that the App Retailer itself is the rationale for the builders’ success, because it offers {the marketplace} that permits shoppers to find new apps and simply pay for the builders’ software program and companies.

That comes by in Apple’s newest report as properly, the place Apple notes that earnings for U.S.-based builders have greater than doubled during the last 5 years, whereas small enterprise builders have seen earnings improve by 76% from 2021 to 2024. (The latter quantity is no surprise. In 2020, Apple launched its Small Business Program that lowered commissions for builders making lower than $1 million per . An earnings improve is to be anticipated.)

Apple additionally reminds U.S. builders that its App Retailer permits them to succeed in a world market of 175 international locations and areas, and it prevents billions in fraudulent transactions. Its developer investments embody 250,000 APIs, as a part of frameworks like HealthKit, Metallic, Core ML, MapKit, and SwiftUI.

Moreover, the brand new report highlights how a lot builders are making from the App Retailer in areas the place they don’t should pay fee.

As an example, Apple says that final , the U.S. App Retailer ecosystem facilitated $277 billion in complete billings and gross sales from bodily items and companies, $75 billion from in-app promoting, and $53 billion from digital items and companies. It additionally notes that, since 2019, spending on bodily items and companies greater than tripled and in-app spending on digital items and companies and in-app promoting greater than doubled. Common retail spending and grocery supply elevated greater than fourfold.