Apple has made a rare disclosure of the revenue generated from its App Store in China, as the US tech giant grapples with a controversy surrounding the so-called Apple Tax – commission fees that the company charges developers for using its app store and in-app payment system.
Apple China on Monday published an article on its official website that cited a report by a Shanghai University of Finance and Economics researcher, saying that the local App Store paid over 95 per cent of the 3.76 trillion yuan (US$519 billion) in revenue it generated last year to Chinese developers and various companies.
“We’re proud that the investments we make in the App Store have helped it become a powerful growth engine for local businesses of all sizes,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook wrote on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. He said that the company is committed to the success of entrepreneurs across China.
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It is unclear whether the study was sponsored by Apple. The company and the report’s author Ju Heng did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
A Huawei flagship store in Shanghai, China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images alt=A Huawei flagship store in Shanghai, China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images>
Apple is under pressure to appease app developers in China, as local rival Huawei Technologies is aggressively pushing its iOS and Android alternative, HarmonyOS. In the first quarter, HarmonyOS overtook Apple’s iOS to become the second-biggest mobile operating system in mainland China, according to Counterpoint Research.
While strong iPhone 16 sales have lifted Apple back to second place in China’s smartphone market in the third quarter, the company has yet to announce when it will bring its new in-app artificial intelligence function, Apple Intelligence, to users on the mainland, to the dismay of some local users.
Apple’s app-store business model has come under increasing scrutiny around the world, with European regulators reportedly considering a fine on the company for restricting app developers from pointing users to payment options outside the US company’s ecosystem.
In May, Apple won a landmark court case in Shanghai, filed by a local consumer who claimed that the company was abusing its market dominance by charging unfairly high commission fees.