App Store revenue grew more than usual in October

Like many other areas of Apple's empire, the App Store experiences seasonality when it comes to purchases and downloads of apps. In October, analysts saw an improvement in tracked metrics that go beyond what typical seasonal figures.

In the data from Sensor Tower for the month of October seen by J.P.Morgan and shared with AppleInsider, revenue from App Store purchases grew by 2.6% in concurrent months. This follows the 2.3% drop in revenue in concurrent months from August to September.

The 2.6% increase in October is actually double the sequential monthly rise average of 1.1% seen in previous October tracking figures.

Analysts say this helps support a 15% year-on-year increase in revenue for October, versus 14% in September. It's also supportive of robust Services revenue forecasts for the Q1 2025 financial results.

Downloads from the App Store also tracked above seasonal levels too. In October, downloads increased 3% on a month-to-month basis, against the typical 2.4% average sequential increase for the period.

On a year-on-year basis, October downloads were up 7.5%, versus 6.6% in September.

The average selling point (ASP) in the App Store also tracked well in October. While sequential monthly ASPs fell 0.4% in October, it was still a massive improvement over the average October sequential decrease of 1.2%.

For the ASP year-on-year comparison, the October 2024 ASP had risen 7.3% compared to the same period last year.

J.P.Morgan doesn't offer any explanation for the improvements. Even so, it is probable that demand being slightly higher for the iPhone 16 versus the iPhone 15 in 2023 has influenced the financials a bit.