JPMorgan Comments On Apple's Developer Revenue Announcments

Apple AAPL recently stated that throughout 2014 its apps generated $10 billion in revenue for developers and $25 billion in cumulative revenue. The company stated that its App Store billings rose 50 percent from 2013's level. Rod Hall of JPMorgan commented in a note on Friday that Apple's revenue growth from Apps throughout the bottom half of 2014 may have declined. “We estimate that Apple generated approximately $2.1 billion in revenue (flat year over year) from Apps in the second half of calendar 2014,” Hall wrote. “At flat year over year, apps revenue growth declined substantially from out estimate of 67 percent in the first half of calendar 2014 and 210 percent in the second half of calendar 2013.” Hall does add that Apple already disclosed that the first week of January 2015 has set a record with half a billion dollars spent by customers on apps and in-app purchases and that New Year's Day 2015 represented the single largest day ever in App Store sales history. Hall expects Apps revenue to grow throughout 2015 driven by new apps for Apple Watch and AppleTv later this year.