Apple released its latest annual research report on the eve of this year's WWDC, saying that the total amount of developer bills and sales facilitated through the App Store in 2025 will exceed 1.4 trillion US dollars, and emphasized that since 2019, the scale of the App Store ecosystem has tripled. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that developers are the "heart" of the App Store. This milestone reflects the continuous creativity of developers around the world. Apple will continue to provide developers with tools, technology and a trusted platform to help them create future-oriented applications and services.
However, this "$1.4 trillion" figure comes from the statistical caliber of a study commissioned by Apple, which has raised concerns about its calculation method. The report shows that more than 90% of App Store-related bills and sales do not generate Apple commissions. That is, most of the revenue comes from monetization models outside of the App Store, but it is still included in this set of total statistics. The report expresses this size in terms of $1,437 billion, which is commonly referred to as $1.4 trillion.
In specific categories, Apple includes revenue from a large number of "digital goods and services," including services that are subscribed outside the App Store but available on Apple devices or apps, such as Hulu, Audible, Spotify, and the New York Times. This also raises a question: If a user purchases a subscription to YouTube Premium on the web, but watches it on Apple TV, will this transaction also be counted in the App Store ecosystem data? The methodological statement attached to the report is relatively vague, and only states in a general sentence that the sales and distribution of digital goods and services can be realized through paid downloads, in-app purchases, jump-to-webpage payments, or digital content and subscription sales of multi-platform applications.
The report does not clearly define which situations will be counted, such as whether the user enters the web subscription through the jump button in the application, or enters the URL in the browser to complete the payment. In addition, the report does not clearly state the source of the basic data. It only mentions in the footnote that the data comes from a comprehensive summary of Apple itself, application analysis companies, market research institutions and some companies. Although there is some ambiguity in the statistical caliber, the report still gives a key figure: digital goods and services account for approximately 10.3% of the total US$1.4 trillion, equivalent to approximately US$149 billion.
In addition to digital content, physical goods and offline services are still an important part of the App Store's ecological revenue, including shopping on Amazon and ordering and delivery through platforms such as Instacart. The report also takes into account advertising revenue in apps, such as TikTok, Instagram, and monetization from ad displays in games. Within the overall structure, physical goods and services are believed to contribute the majority of App Store ecosystem sales worldwide.
Apple has highlighted the performance of artificial intelligence-related applications this year, saying that consumer-facing AI-enabled applications will grow four times faster than non-AI applications in 2025. The data focuses on the top 100 most popular apps, about 40 of which already integrate some kind of consumer-facing AI functionality. However, it is difficult to judge from a causal perspective whether AI itself is driving growth, or whether top applications naturally introduce AI capabilities in line with overall industry trends.
The report cited external data saying that by 2025, 99% of Fortune 500 companies will be using AI technology to some extent. Among them, the growth of the customer service field between January 2025 and January 2026 is described as 2199%, showing that enterprises have significantly increased their investment in customer service automation and intelligence. This also echoes Apple’s overall strategic direction of emphasizing AI capabilities and application ecosystem this year.
From a regional perspective, the growth momentum of the App Store ecosystem varies across the world. The report pointed out that in the past six years, billing and sales facilitated through the App Store have doubled in the Chinese market, and have more than tripled in the United States and European markets. Charts released by Apple show that the overall size of digital goods, physical goods, services, advertising and other categories has expanded significantly from 2019 to 2025.
In terms of consumption structure, expenditure on physical goods and services accounts for the highest proportion in the world, but the specific categories vary in different regions. According to the report, in the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and other regions, travel expenditure is the second largest consumption category among physical goods and services. In South Korea, takeout and catering delivery have become the second largest category, while in the Chinese market, fresh food and catering delivery-related services rank among the top three.
Faced with such a huge ecosystem, Apple is also emphasizing its investment and support for the developer community. The report stated that in 2025, Apple hosted thousands of developers in multiple developer centers around the world and provided training and resources to developers through more than 20 Apple Developer Academy located in countries and regions such as Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the United States. Apple also plans to open its first European developer center in Berlin in 2026 to further strengthen its developer support network in the European market.
The annual developer event WWDC 2026 will officially open on June 8, when Apple will showcase the tools and technical routes of the new generation operating system to developers. Apple says developers and students will be able to watch more than 100 video lessons on tools, techniques and design, and participate in events like Group Labs and interact in Apple Developer Forums. With AI and service revenue becoming the focus, these investments in developers are seen as a key link for Apple to maintain and expand the App Store ecosystem.