Chinese App Store created a $531B turnover in 2023
This information was officially posted by Apple. This is one of the very rare pieces of information regarding the company's performance in China.
The research was shared by Ju Heng, an associate professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Business School. This includes all applications, not just games.
The turnover of the iOS app ecosystem is $531 billion (3.76 trillion yuan). This includes not only sales of in-game content but also sales of goods, services, and advertising within apps - for which Apple does not charge a commission. Retail apps earned the most (about 67% of this amount).
❗️For conversion to dollars, I used the average exchange rate for 2023.
91% of this amount ($483.2 billion) are purchases of physical goods or services through apps (not subject to commission). 5% ($26.55 billion) is advertising, also not subject to commission. Finally, 4% ($21.24 billion) is revenue from digital goods purchases and subscriptions (what Apple charges a commission for).
At the same time, the study notes that most apps pay a 15% commission under the Small Business Program. This means their revenue from digital goods is no more than $1 million per year.
Ju Heng notes that the App Store ecosystem has grown 2.3 times in turnover since 2019.
In 2023, more than 70% of Chinese developers worked for the global market.
Apps from Chinese developers were downloaded more than 8 billion times in 2023. 26% of this number were international downloads. In 2018, the share of international downloads was 12%.
90% of all downloads and 95% of turnover in China came from apps by local developers in 2023.