Apple Paid Out More Than $70B To App Store Developers

Apple announced Thursday (June 1) that it has paid out more than $70 billion dollars to iOS app developers since the App Store launched in 2008.

In a press release announcing the milestone, the consumer electronics and entertainment company said that with the subscription business model now available to developers across all 25 app categories, the App Store’s active paid subscriptions are up 58 percent year over year.

“People everywhere love apps, and our customers are downloading them in record numbers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in the press release. “Seventy billion dollars earned by developers is simply mind-blowing. We are amazed at all of the great new apps our developers create and can’t wait to see them again next week at our Worldwide Developers Conference.”

Apple said its App Store developers are creating apps for customers in 155 countries that it says  improve lives, rethink industries and shape culture. The company said gaming and entertainment are top-grossing categories, and lifestyle apps, as well as health and fitness, have experienced over 70 percent growth in the last year. The photo and video category is also among the fastest-growing, at nearly 90 percent growth, Apple said.

Apple’s announcement comes at a time when the company has been reducing the commissions on websites that look to cash in when customers buy apps or make in-app purchases using the special referral link may be weighing their options soon. Affiliates in April received an email from the tech giant stating that it will be slashing commissions from the current 7 percent to 2.5 percent starting May 1. While this represents a 64 percent cut for websites, Apple says it will not have an impact on App Store users, and developers will maintain the 70 percent cut of each sale. While the App Store affiliate program was an attractive way to get websites on board, this news may not have the best impact on current and future customer relationships for those companies.