Apple App Store Revenue: Record Spending Over Christmas & New Year's

Apple today provided a fresh overview of its App Store performance, releasing data regarding holiday-season sales. The company reported that App Store users spent $1.8 billion on applications between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, with games being a primary driver of this spending. Furthermore, a new single-day record was established on New Year’s Day, with over $540 million spent.

While Apple detailed these figures, it did not fully explain the impact of the pandemic on increased app expenditure throughout 2020. The company did reiterate that the most popular applications of the year included those facilitating connection and entertainment, such as Zoom and Disney+, alongside games that fostered community, like Roblox and Among Us.

However, Apple refrained from disclosing the total amount spent on apps and games during 2020. This necessitates reliance on estimates from external sources for these numbers. Sensor Tower’s end-of-year report indicates that worldwide consumer spending on the App Store reached $72.3 billion in 2020, representing a 30.3% increase compared to the $55.5 billion recorded in 2019. App Annie provided a comparable estimate in a preliminary assessment prior to the release of its annual report.

Apple did state that App Store developers have collectively earned over $200 billion since the App Store’s launch in 2008, an increase from the $155 billion announced the previous year.

The holiday week of the prior year also achieved a record, with $1.42 billion spent on apps and games, a 16% rise year-over-year. Considering the $1.8 billion spent in 2020, it appears a new record has been set, though the reason for Apple’s omission of this information remains unclear.

Apple also shared several updates concerning its other service offerings in its 2020 review. Apple Music experienced a “record year,” although specific details were not provided. The company noted that 90% of iOS 14 users engaged with its new features, including Listen Now, the redesigned Search function, personalized radio stations, and Autoplay. Apple also reported a doubling in engagement with its lyrics feature during 2020.

Apple further announced that the Apple TV+ app is now accessible on over 1 billion devices across more than 100 countries, and customers can now purchase or rent more than 100,000 new and classic films and television shows.

Apple Pay is currently accepted at over 90% of retail locations in the U.S., 85% in the U.K., and 99% in Australia.

Apple News, iCloud, and its recently launched service, Fitness+, were mentioned, but no new data regarding user adoption or growth was released.

The company also announced that Apple Arcade now features over 140 games, Apple Books has surpassed 90 million monthly active users, and Apple Podcasts is available in more than 175 countries.