Apple Reveals Number of App Store Users in Europe

Apple has been forced to disclose the number of monthly App Store users it has in Europe, in order to comply with the EU's new Digital Services Act (DSA).

Online platforms with over 45 million monthly active users are designated as 'very large online platforms (VLOPs) and are subject to enhanced supervision and enforcement under the new act. In its disclosure, Apple says its App Stores should be considered separate by platform, noting that only the iOS App Store is large enough to be classified a VLOP.

The iOS App Store has 101 million users per month in Europe, whereas, the iPadOS App Store has 23 million, macOS App Store has 6 million, tvOS App Store has 1 million, and watchOS App Store has under 1 million.


Even though its other App Store do not meet the threshold of a VLOP, Apple says it plans to align each existing App Store with the existing DSA requirements for VLOPs.

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In accordance with Article 24(2) of the Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (the Digital Services Act), set forth below are the numbers of average monthly active recipients in the EU of intermediary services within the scope of that Article, calculated as an average over the period of the six months to 31 January 2023.

Under Article 3(b) of the DSA, "recipients" of an intermediary service are natural or legal persons who use it, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible, including business users, consumers and other users. Recipients of an online platform are "active" where they are "actually engaging with the service at least once in a given period of time, by being exposed to information disseminated on the online interface of the online platform, such as viewing it or listening to it, or by providing information".

Online platforms with 45 million or more average monthly active recipients of the service in the Union, may be designated as very large online platforms (VLOPs). With this framework in mind, the below figures, compiled in accordance with Article 24 (2) of the DSA regarding recipients of the service, are approximated based on information that is readily available to Apple in the normal course of its business:


iOS App Store: 101 million
iPadOS App Store: 23 million
macOS App Store: 6 million
tvOS App Store: 1 million
watchOS App Store: under 1 million
Apple Books: under 1 million
Podcasts paid subscriptions: under 1 million

Without prejudice to further consideration of the legal characterisation, Apple views each version of the App Store as a distinct online platform under the DSA, and only the iOS App Store may qualify as a VLOP. Nonetheless, Apple intends, on an entirely voluntary basis, to align each of the existing versions of the App Store (including those that do not currently meet the VLOP designation threshold) with the existing DSA requirements for VLOPs because the goals of the DSA align with Apple's goals to protect consumers from illegal content.
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