What you need to know
- Phil Schiller revealed that Apple spends around $50 million on WWDC every year.
- He also says Apple spent about $18 billion on research and development last year.
Running WWDC apparently costs Apple $50 million.
As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple Fellow Phil Schiller testified at the Epic v. Apple trial earlier today and, during his testimony, revealed how much it costs Apple to throw its yearly developer conference. According to Schiller, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference costs the company at least $50 million a year.
During his testimony, Schiller revealed that it costs Apple around $50 million each year to put on its Worldwide Developer Conference. This likely refers to the in-person version of WWDC rather than the digital version.
This cost is significant per a Protocol report, as Epic has been trying to argue that Apple makes a ton of money off of the App Store. However, Apple points out that Epic's case does not take into consideration costs like WWDC.
Epic has argued the high profitability of the App Store is one of the reasons why Apple continues to demand 30% of digital transactions and that Apple fails to justify that commission rate through its claims of providing security, privacy, App Store review, and other operating costs. Apple has argued it does not have calculate the profitability of the App Store as an individual unit and that any attempts to do so would be misleading as they do not take into account the amount of money Apple invests in the iOS ecosystem, such as research and development costs and the money it spends on events like WWDC.
Schiller also revealed that Apple was working on a dedicated developer facility at Apple Park that would allow developers to visit the campus and work on apps with Apple engineers like they do at WWDC. It appears that the facility would make that kind of opportunity more consistent.
In a similar vein, Schiller revealed during his testimony that Apple is building a dedicated developer facility at Apple Park. Here, developers will be able to work directly with Apple engineers on their applications and receive support and help. No further details were provided on this developer center, though.
Schiller also revealed how much Apple spends on research and development. According to the executive, the company spent $18 billion on R&D last year alone.
Oh my god. Schiller is asked how much Apple spends on R&D.
He says from 2005 to 2020 Apple spent $100 billion.
Just last year alone Apple spent $18 billion.Oh my god. Schiller is asked how much Apple spends on R&D.
He says from 2005 to 2020 Apple spent $100 billion.
Just last year alone Apple spent $18 billion.— Nick Statt (@nickstatt) May 17, 2021May 17, 2021
