China takes the lion's share in commerce facilitated by Apple's App Store ecosystem

The App Store ecosystem supported $519 billion in billings and sales globally in 2019, Apple said today citing a study.

The study, which was conducted by the Analysis Group, is the first to attempt to comprehensively analyze the App Store ecosystem, which is now home to nearly 2 million apps.

By breaking down the results by geography, the study estimated that China accounted for $246 billion, or 47%, of total global billings and sales facilitated by the App Store ecosystem in 2019, while the US accounted for $138 billion, or 27%, of the global total.

Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world accounted for 10%, 7%, and 9%, respectively, of the global total.

The report said:

We see variation in estimated billings and sales by region. For example, China led the category of physical goods and services in 2019 ($225 billion, or 54% of the total for the category), while the US accounted for most of the in-app ad sales in 2019 ($23 billion, or 51% of the total for the category).

China’s large share in the physical goods and services category involves transactions that occur outside of the App Store, from which Apple gets no commission.

This large share reflects the speed at which Chinese commerce has migrated to mobile commerce, on apps in particular, compared with the rest of the world.

Globally, mobile apps are an increasingly important e-commerce channel due to their convenience. This growth has been most pronounced in China, the leader in e-commerce, the report said.

Apps of retailers such as Amazon and Target allow consumers to browse and purchase physical goods directly in the app and offer in-store pickup or delivery.

In addition, mobile apps – including those for ride-hailing, food delivery, grocery delivery and pickup, and mobile pickup ordering – have been central to the creation or expansion of certain business models.