In recent years, the sale of services has been one of the main growth categories of Apple’s revenues. Even though Apple doesn’t make video games, the company has earned more than the sector’s leaders such as Sony or Nintendo, thanks to the App Store.
The Wall Street Journal report is based on information released in court during the Epic Games trial and on data periodically shared by Sensor Tower. Both estimated that Apple took in $15.9 billion in revenue from the App Store during 2019, with 69% of that figure derived from games.
Apple is number one in video game sales
In this regard, the company said that the operating margins discussed in the trial were produced from an analysis that did not take into account the numerous joint costs associated with the App Store. In effect, the analysis included all game-related revenue, but only a small fraction of the potential cost.
According to a Wall Street Journal analysis, Apple’s operating profit derived from gaming in fiscal 2019 was $8.5 billion. The figure based on games sold by Apple is approximately $2 billion more than the operating profit generated from games during the same 12-month period by Sony, Activision, Nintendo, and Microsoft.
The gaming companies’ data comes from company filings, while Microsoft’s figure comes from an analyst estimate.
Even though the outcome of the controversial lawsuit was not entirely favorable for Apple, it seems like it does not affect the company’s growth in the sale of video games.
