How Apple Makes Billions From the App Store—and Why 90% of Sales Now Escape Its Commission Cut

The store counted 850 million average weekly users across 175 countries last year. (Credit: Glen Bledsoe / Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Apple told developers on 4 June 2026 that its App Store moved more than £1T ($1.4T) in billings and sales during 2025, up from £974B ($1.3T) a year earlier, according to a study by economists at Analysis Group commissioned by the company. For more than 90% of that, developers handed Apple nothing. The slice it does tax lands almost entirely on the streaming and app subscriptions millions pay for monthly.

That headline figure does quiet work. It lets Apple look like a modest landlord taking a small cut, while the part it taxes stays hidden.