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- 164 publishers made over $1 million for the first time this year in the United States from selling apps for iPhone, according to a new analysis.
- That's significantly higher than the number Android apps to make $1 million or more for the first time, which was 88.
- Many of the newly successful apps use in-app subscriptions, which bill users on a regular basis.
It's completely possible to develop a million-dollar business by selling apps for iPhones and iPads through Apple's App Store.
In fact, 164 different app developers marked their first $1 million year in the United States in 2018, according to $4, an analytics firm focusing on Apple's App Store and Google Play.
It's a sign that despite Apple's much-criticised 30% cut of in-app purchases and sometimes arbitrary rules, it's still possible to create a real business on the App Store. "The booming App Store ecosystem is responsible for more than 1.5 million American jobs," Apple said in a press release $4.
"The number of publishers with their first $1 million or greater year on the U.S. App Store grew by approximately 15 percent over 2017, when we found that 143 achieved this milestone," Sensor Tower analysts $4. 88 app publishers had their first $1 million year on the U.S. Google Play store in 2018, too.
Although some of the new $1 million publishers sold games - about 33% - there were a lot of publishers that focused on lifestyle and health apps. Many of those publishers also used a new kind of billing method strongly $4: recurring subscriptions.
"Both of the categories with the greatest year-over-year growth in terms of numbers among new million-dollar publishers-Lifestyle and Health & Fitness-were ones where there is a strong focus on generating revenue through in-app subscriptions, whether it be from fitness tracking, guided meditation, premium dating services, etc," Sensor Tower analyst Randy Nelson told Business Insider in an email.
For example, one new $1 million app is called $4. It's a meditation and relaxation app. While it's free to download, membership costs $12.99 per month.
The top 20 subscription apps that aren't games saw revenue grow 57% this year, Nelson added.