Apple announces tax changes and new attributes for apps, books, videos.
Developer proceedings will be increased in Austria, Cyprus and Vietnam for some app categories.
New tax categories are added for in-app purchases and subscriptions, books and videos.
Apple Developer: Tax updates for apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions
Apple publishes report on developers' success in App Store.
Some key findings:
Report contains more details on 15 years of App Store history.
Apple Newsroom: Developers generated $1.1 trillion in the App Store ecosystem in 2022
References:
On May 31st Apple will update proceedings for several territories:
Apple Developer
- Ghana: Increase of the VAT rate from 12.5% to 15%.
- Lithuania: Reduction of the VAT rate from 21% to 9% for eligible e‑books and audiobooks.
- Moldova: Reduction of the VAT rate from 20% to 0% for eligible e‑books and periodicals.
- Spain: Digital services tax of 3%.
Also Apple will now withhold taxes for App Store sales in Brazil. This will affect developers outside Brazil.
Apple Developer: Upcoming tax changes for apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions
Apple provides report on small business growth on App Store. According to report earnings for small developers increased by 71% between 2020 and 2022.
Growth is not uniform on per-country basis. France is leading with 122% growth, followed by US with 87%.
Apple also highlights that over 40% of companies that grew over $1M in earnings (technically excluding themselves from Small Business as per App Store rules) were founded in last five years.
Report: Small Business Developers and App Creators on the App Store in 2022 (PDF)
Apple Newsroom: Small developers on the App Store grew revenue by 71 percent from 2020-2022
Apple held its Q2 2023 earnings call. While economy is on decline, Apple was still able to achieve great results with iPhone and services.
During the call Tim Cook reiterated that mass layoffs are considered 'last resort' and not planned right now.
Apple also announced that they're getting closer to 1 billion active subscribers.
While Apple did not announce any significant focus changes for AI, Tim Cook acknowledged hype around ChatGPT and said that company will keep working on bringing more AI to its platforms and services.
Apple Newsroom: Apple reports second quarter results
References:
New report from Sensor Tower gives perspective on mobile spendings in 2021.
The top 100 non-game subscription-based apps saw their revenue grow 41 percent year-over-year from $13 billion to $18.3 billion globally. This was 7 percentage points greater than in 2020, when spending in these apps climbed 34 percent Y/Y from $9.7 billion in 2019.
Sensor Tower
Apple updates App Store prices in several countries following currency exchange rates fluctuations and tax changes. Some countries will get price hikes, but some will see price reductions.
Bahrain: Increase of value-added tax from 5% to 10%
Apple Developer
Ukraine: New value-added tax of 20%
Zimbabwe: New digital services tax of 5%
Other changes are reflected on Apple Developer page.
Apple Developer: Upcoming tax and price changes for apps and in-app purchases
Reference: Apple to change App Store prices in Ukraine, Austria, and more regions
According to Sensor Tower almost a thousand developers earned $1M for the first time in 2021. Of those 581 are on App Store and 325 on Google Play.
Report also contains more information on app category distribution.
Sensor Tower: Nearly 1,000 App Publishers Earned $1 Million for the First Time in 2021
Reference: New data shows how many App Store devs earned $1M for the first time in 2021
Report claims that customers spent $33.6 billion in the third quarter of 2021, a rise of 15.1% year over year.
App Store has $21.5B in payments and Google Play – $12.1B.
