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The App ecosystem billings (what consumers actually pay) is shown in the red area above. 70% of those
payments are transferred directly to developers and Apple reports the 30% remaining as part of its
revenues. This view of the iTunes ecosystem shows the impact of Apps relative to the other media types.
When we measure the payments to the content owners we can see that Apps also dominate:
The red area above adds up to the approximately $25 billion total paid to developers. This view of the
payments to ecosystem contributors shows how apps are now a bigger digital content business than
music and TV programs and Movie rentals and purchases put together.
This is quite a story.
Put another way, in 2014 iOS app developers earned more than Hollywood did from box office in the US.
Although the totals for Domestic (US) Box Office are not the complete Hollywood revenues picture,
Apple's App Store billings is not the complete App revenue picture either. The Apps economy includes
Android and ads and service businesses and custom development. Including all revenues, apps are still
likely to be bigger than Hollywood.
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