If Apple were to spin-off the App Store, it would be a Fortune 100 company by itself

Here are some amazing statistics recently released by Asymco analyst Horace Dediu. Using his slide rule, the analyst calculated that App Store developers made $26.5 billion in 2017. That is more than McDonald's gross revenues for 2016. In 2018, Apple could take in $100 million a day from iOS users purchasing paid apps or subscriptions. That adds up to $36.5 billion, and if the App Store does achieve that much revenue this year, it would continue to rate as a Fortune 100 company.

With those numbers, Dediu sees the company ringing up iOS related sales of $500 billion by 2019. But the App Store alone is the real jewel inside Apple. In less than ten years, Apple has paid developers $86.5 billion in total for their share of revenue related to paid apps. And if you want a real ice breaker at the bar, you can mention that this year App Store revenue will top global box office receipts.

Apple's services unit is dominated by apps and that unit grossed $57 billion in 2017. It might be hard for analysts on Wall Street to compute what kind of value to put on the App Store when trying to figure what Apple's shares should be worth. These analysts are concerned about whether the App Store can sustain its spectacular growth rate. It would appear that this little gem of a business, which launched with 10,000 apps in 2008 alongside the Apple iPhone 3G, could be the fastest growing part of Apple. Since the middle of 2011, spending in the App Store has risen $5 billion a year.


source: Asymco