Apple's App Store has lost around half of its growth momentum since July, in what is a fairly predictable outcome of allowing third-party app stores to eat into its lunch in the EU.
Sensor Tower: Apple's year-over-year App Store spending growth rate slowed to just 6 percent in November from 12 percent in July
Goldman Sachs has now leveraged the latest data from Sensor Tower to note:
- Apple's year-over-year App Store spending growth rate slowed to just 6 percent in November 2025 from 9 percent in October 2025 and 12 percent in July 2025.
- Spending on games, which constitute the largest category for the Apple App Store with a 44 percent contribution, declined by 2 percent year-over-year in November vs. the 3 percent year-over-year growth experienced in October 2025.
- Apple App Store's top 4 geographies - the US, Japan, the UK, and Canada - that make up around 52 percent of the total spending also experienced sequential declines in growth.
- Even so, Apple's broader services segment is still expected to record healthy growth, courtesy of strength in iCloud+, AppleCare+, Apple Music, and Apple Pay.
As for why Apple's App Store is losing growth momentum so drastically, do note that the Cupertino giant has now allowed its users in the EU to install third-party app stores after being pressured by the bloc's various antitrust measures, including a formal "gatekeeper" designation under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).
What's more, since March 2024, Apple has allowed app developers who enrolled in a modified program to pay a lower percentage of their overall app-derived revenue to Apple.
Taken together, these two developments are now severely sapping the App Store's growth momentum, which is slowing on an annual as well as sequential basis. What's more, given the emerging paradigm, it is unlikely that Apple would be able to halt this slowing growth momentum anytime soon.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
