Around the turn of the year, Apple recorded new record sales for apps: In the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, iOS users spent 1.8 billion US dollars (the equivalent of 1.4 billion euros) on “digital goods and services” like that Company announced on Wednesday; the money went mainly to games.
On January 1, 2021, there was also a new daily record with total sales in apps of 540 million US dollars.
Apple deserves with
Since digital content in apps has to be sold via Apple’s payment interface, the group automatically earns from it – up to 30 percent commission is retained by Apple. Many small developers would have joined the new App Store Small Business Program, stressed Apple and thereby pay a commission reduced to 15 percent to the group. Apple did not give any new figures for sales and user numbers for its own subscription services Music, TV +, Arcade and iCloud.
Google Play vs. App Store
According to one estimate, $ 72.3 billion in sales in Apple’s App Store were generated with digital content in 2020. This is an increase of a good 30 percent compared to the previous year, explained the sensor tower market research service specializing in mobile apps. In Apple’s App Store, almost twice as much sales are achieved as in Google Play (38.6 billion US dollars in app sales), according to the market researchers. Sales with and in apps on Google Play have also grown by 30 percent, but the gap to the App Store has not narrowed.
However, Google Play lacks the app sales of the huge Chinese market, in which the App Store is present. According to market researchers, the best-selling iOS app (excluding games) in 2020 was TikTok, followed by YouTube and the dating app Tinder. The top-selling iOS apps also include several Chinese streaming services and the Japanese comics app Line Manga.
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