Apple, South Korea App Store Revenue Reaches 16.5 Trillion Won Last Year

First Public Reveal in History

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Apple announced on the 2nd (local time) that it generated $13.9 billion (approximately 16.5 trillion KRW) in sales through the App Store in Korea last year.

Ahead of the upcoming WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) scheduled for the 7th, Apple revealed that global App Store sales reached $643 billion (approximately 713.8 trillion KRW) last year. Sales in Korea accounted for about 2.3% of the total global App Store sales.

Specifically, domestic sales consisted of $13.1 billion (approximately 14.5 trillion KRW) from physical goods and services (retail, travel, food delivery, ride-hailing, etc.), $1.5 billion (approximately 1.6 trillion KRW) from digital goods and services, and $400 million (approximately 400 billion KRW) from in-app advertising.

Domestic sales showed a higher proportion of physical goods and services compared to other countries, while the share of digital services was lower.

By country, sales figures were as follows: China ($300 billion, approximately 334 trillion KRW), the United States ($175 billion, approximately 194.8 trillion KRW), Europe ($74 billion, approximately 82.4 trillion KRW), Japan ($34.6 billion, approximately 38.5 trillion KRW), and Australia & New Zealand ($7.7 billion, approximately 8.5 trillion KRW), excluding Korea.

Globally, last year’s annual sales grew about 24% compared to 2019. Of the total sales, 90% came from physical goods and services or in-app advertising outside the App Store. Apple does not charge a commission (30%) on these sales.