This week Apple released its latest research on the App Store, in a bid to persuade the public — and more importantly policymakers — that the app economy under its control is thriving, and that Apple's continued stewardship of it is a good thing. The research finds that the iOS app economy now supports 2.2 million jobs in the US.
A two horse race
In the last decade the software of Apple (iOS) and Android, the latter of which is Google's mobile operating system, have come to dominate the global mobile operating system market. Google's stroke of genius was to make Android free and open source, allowing companies to freely build on top of the Android OS.
Both bring in tens of billions for their respective owners, and together they account for more than 99% of all mobile operating systems according to data from StatCounter.
Lawmakers haven't completely missed the memo, and app stores are the latest way that governments are looking to regulate big tech. Legislation is moving through Congress, and European lawmakers are looking at the Digital Markets Act to help foster competition on the platforms and create choice for consumers.
