Apple Services had a “record year,” according to Apple. blog post by Senior Vice President Eddy Cue.
In 2025, Apple had an average of 850 million weekly App Store users (up from 813 million in 2024), over $100 billion in retail sales with Apple Pay and a 36% increase in monthly engagement with Apple TV.
Apple Music also had its best year ever in terms of listenership and new subscriber growth, which is impressive given Spotify's long-standing market dominance.
Apple has been less likely to release App Store payout data over the past few years, but said it has paid out $550 billion to developers since its 2008 launch. This represents a significant increase, as Apple recently reported that it had paid out $260 billion to developers by 2021, up from the $200 billion reported in 2020.
The App Store typically takes a 30% commission on in-app purchases, although it offers small businesses (developers making less than $1 million a year) a reduced 15% commission. This part of Apple's business has been subject to rigorous regulatory scrutiny, including: international courts examine it for monopolistic practices.
Apple Music and Apple TV are growing
Apple's entertainment products are also making progress. According to the company, in December 2025, Apple TV broke all previous viewing records, and Apple Music reached record levels of listenership and the number of new subscribers.
Apple TV's growth comes with the debut of new hits like “Pluribus” and “The Studio,” as well as continued successes like “Severance.” Apple TV has also signed major streaming deals with Major League Soccer and Formula 1. “F1,” an Apple TV movie about the sport, became Apple Studios' highest-grossing film to date, as well as the highest-grossing film of star Brad Pitt's career.
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Apple credits its development of the karaoke-like “Sing” feature to partnerships with companies like GM and Chase and other new developments. He notes that Shazam generated over 1 billion views per month, which may have contributed to the growth of its music service.
However, it is also possible that Apple has benefited from the controversy surrounding Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's business ventures.
Investment company Ek has invested EUR 600 million in the European defense technology company Helsing, which produces military and artificial intelligence software. hit the drones. Artists such as Xiu Xiu, Sylvan Esso, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof and others have removed their catalogs from Spotify in protest.
Spotify has faced other controversies over the past few years, from the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 via Joe Rogan's podcast (previously exclusive to Spotify) to artist payout ratios.
On the other hand, Apple Music may be growing because it's simply creating a product that will be better suited to certain listeners (I wrote about my decision to switch from Spotify to Apple Music when I was increasingly suffocated by algorithmic recommendations).
It could also be a financial decision in uncertain economic times — Apple Music is attracting new subscribers with its three-month free offer that comes with the purchase of most new Apple devices.
