24 hours after we exclusively revealed that Apple had simply walked away from a multimillion dollar deal to buy Power banks from Australian Company Cygnett after initially approving the deal, it’s been revealed that Apple is being investigated for having too much power over suppliers in particular via their app store.
It’s also been revealed that the largest U.S. technology companies are being investigated by antitrust regulators, and Apple has been criticized in recent years for exerting too much power over outside Companies manufacturing and developing products sold in their stores and apps that are sold via their app store.
The House Judiciary Committee recently asked tech executives, including Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, to testify in July as part of an antitrust probe. The study released Monday may address some of these antitrust concerns.
The Apple Store facilitated sales of $519 billion last year, underscoring the influence of the digital marketplace on the global economy, according to a study supported by the company.
The estimate, by consulting firm Analysis Group, includes $413 billion worth of physical goods and services such as apps for buying clothes, food, ridesharing, and travel as well as cables, power banks and covers for Apple products.
Another $45 billion came from in-app advertising such as in social networking apps, while $61 billion was generated by digital sales like app and game downloads and in-app-purchases, the study found.
More than 85% of the $519 billion total “accrues solely to third parties,” rather than Apple, Analysis Group wrote.
Apple previously said it had generated $46.3 billion in services revenue in the 2019 fiscal year, and that it has paid out more than $155 billion to developers since the App Store launched in 2008. The company is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference next week.