Apple shared a new App Store research report, describing its own built-in App as not a complete monopoly, in order to try to resolve the regulatory pressure. The report is a survey of economists commissioned by Analysis Group, and the report highlights the success of third-party developers in the App Store.
The study comes as Apple is facing antitrust regulatory lawsuits and concerns over app prioritization and abuse of dominance on its App Store. Due to regulatory pressure, Apple has opened the subscription license for external chains, thereby bypassing the system. But the bigger concern should be the government’s requirement to open up iOS, allowing for app sideloading and optional alternatives to third-party app stores.
Apple emphasizes:
- Many third-party apps are consumers’ only choices in this category, including social networking, dating services, travel planning, and food and beverages.
- Strong apps vary from country to country, and many regional leaders outperform their global competitors.
- iPhone users in most regions prefer third-party apps, mainly including music streaming, TV and movie streaming, reading, communication and mapping apps. It is worth mentioning that Apple also cites the following data from the United States:
- Spotify usage is 1.6 times that of Apple Music
- Netflix is 17 times better than Apple TV+
- Wattpad is 5.5 times taller than Apple Books
- Kindle is 4.5 times taller than Apple Books
- Of many app types, Apple’s own apps account for a relatively small share of iPhone users’ usage, even if they come with some pre-installed Apple apps to enable the device’s core functionality.
- iPhone users often use multiple apps in a category, especially social, news reading, video, navigation, and more – highlighting the ease with which users can switch between apps and the wide range of opportunities for developers.
In addition, Apple pointed to the various tools it offers developers and its investments in “the next generation of developers,” including Everyone Can Code, app development in Swift, and tools like Swift Playground.
iOS App Store General Feature square Complement
Apple released this report primarily to provide information about the ecosystem the App Store has created and the content developers create for it, in the hope that regulators will take notice (but Apple emphasizes that they have no explicit intention to provide regulators with this data).
The first part of the study focused on the many ways developers reach users outside the App Store through non-iOS devices such as smartphones, PCs, and consoles, as well as other digital marketplaces.
The second part of the study focuses on the development of the App Store (currently there are 1.8 million apps in the App Store), 99.9% of which are third-party apps, as the study points out that Apple has only 60 apps that compete with third-party apps.
The final part of the study focuses on the breadth of third-party apps that are “available as an alternative to the Apple App.” It said Apple would not compete in categories such as social networking, food, travel planning, and dating services. It also noted that Apple’s apps “dwarf in popularity and account for a relatively small share of usage” in most genres.