You’ve probably heard it’s hard to make money in the App Store, but not for a small few. Last quarter, a staggering 94 percent of App Store revenue generated in the U.S. went to just the top 1 percent of app publishers, according to new data.
Lots of developers make a good living building iOS apps, but a very small number hit the jackpot. You’re much more likely to make nothing at all, and that’s the sad realization we get from the latest report from SensorTower.
After analyzing U.S. App Store revenue and download estimates from January 1 through March 31, 2016, SensorTower found that around $1.34 billion of the estimated $1.43 billion in net revenue generated went to just 623 publishers.
That means the other 61,677 publishers had to share the remaining 6 percent of the revenue, which was approximately approximately $85.8 million. If it was divided equally, they’d have made less than $1,400 each.
Publishers in that top 1 percent include Supercell, creator of Clash of Clans and Boom Beach; Machine Zone, creator of Game of War and iMob Online; Netflix; Spotify; and HBO.
When it comes to downloads, SensorTower included publishers that offer apps that don’t generate revenue via the App Store, such as Amazon. The top 1 percent claimed 70 percent of downloads, approximately 966 million, while the remaining 99 percent only saw 414 million.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
12 responses to “94% of App Store revenue goes to just 1% of publishers”
What! This is terrible! Get Bernie on this pronto. You can’t have all the wealth generated by just a handful of publishers… the 1 percenters… nevermind that they actually wrote something worth paying money for…. Terrible.
76% of AppStore apps are free (pocketgamer)
They have to change their business with more ads, more in-app purchase, more services, more paid apps…
Seems 2 categories dominate:
1) Freemium, ugh!
2) Content apps. No surprise, but sorry Spotify is not making money on their genius app programming they are making money on your subscription to their music library.
I hate Freemium, it’s the DEATH of good gaming experiences. Most games are no longer good GAMES. They design a fun intro experience, then get people hooked on buying gems or whatever to keep playing.
I completely agree. Freemium games can be horrible. But it’s clear they’re wildly successful, and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
This is a 100% guaranteed passing FAD. The App Store era in 10 years will be a ghost.
You have been reported for abuse.
Well I’m still posting and right in saying based on the evidence the App Store era will be a passing FAD given the majority of devs receive no ROI, it’s pretty much a select few. When was the last time you purchased or download an App? I haven’t for years on any of these so-called “App-Stores”. Perhaps you haven’t even read the article and are simply abusing people who have their own opinion?
Well as the majority of devs aren’t making money from their Apps (most are free) so what’s the point of an App Store apart from being a distribution point which piles millions into the pockets of a few? I rarely use the Microsoft App Store (who on earth does despite it being on 300 million devices?), I hardly visit the Apple App Store anymore, ditto for the Android App Store.
Apple just state the obvious: a minority make money using their store. I’ve got geek tyrant, quora, feedly, news360, appAdvice, imdb, flipboard, vlc, trip advisor, what else does one need ..all free!
I’m not sure about any pending global economic collapse given the US can just keep printing money and China can manipulate their markets anyway they see fit.
These “studies” are misleading. For one, they don’t include the HUGE number of 100% free Apps put out by companies. For example, I have the following on my iPhone:
– 3 banking Apps.
– 2 local cab company Apps.
– 4 online shopping Apps.
– 1 public library App.
– 2 Apps for the schools my kids attend.
– 3 sports team Apps for my favorite teams.
– 2 insurance company Apps for making claims.
– 1 human resources App from my employer.
– 1 App for my cell phone provider to manage my account.
– 1 App for my cable TV provider.
– 2 remote control Apps for our vehicles.
– Chrome, Google Drive, Google Maps.
– Dropbox and Onedrive.
And probably others I’ve missed. The point is these Apps are free and don’t need to make money. They are provided as a service by companies (like banking Apps). They are also significant in that they required developers to make, many of which would be full time employees (or teams). These developers are all getting paid even though their Apps are free.
So it’s asinine to take the entire App Store and divide the number of Apps by revenues to get an average dollar figure per App, and then imply none of them are making any money.
As I noted above, these publishers are included in the download stats, but they are not included in the revenue stats because they don’t make money through the App Store.
Welcome to the corporate world… where CEOs and board of directors ate all the revenues :)
So 1% of the time it works 95% of the time?