Apple App Store growth reportedly looking 'muted' this year
Wachiwit

Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store is seeing "muted" growth in its fiscal second-quarter, as revenue grew less than 1% on a year-over-year basis according to a new report from Bank of America Securities.
On Thursday BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan said third-party data from SensorTower, showed that App Store revenue grew to $2.7B through February 6, while total iPhone and iPad downloads were down 0.7% year-over-year. Mohan noted revenue growth in January in China was healthy and increased by8 7% year-over-year, though Apple (AAPL) has benefited from recent App Store price increases in certain regions due to the strength of the U.S. dollar.
Looking deeper, Mohan said that global gaming revenue declined 5.8% year-over-year to $1.5B, though Chinese gaming revenue grew 5% from a year ago. Mohan said this was largely due to Beijing easing up on COVID-related lockdowns, and China's gaming authority giving its approval to 88 new games in January, up from 84 in December.
The U.S. is still Apple's (AAPL) largest revenue driver for the App Store at 32%, up from 31% in the year-ago quarter. China accounts for 25%, roughly the same as a year-ago.
"We continue to worry about an overall decline in consumer demand," Mohan wrote in a note to clients.
Mohan added that Apple's (AAPL) Services revenue, which is believed to be about 60% from the App Store, could be at "incremental risk" of further deceleration for the rest of the quarter. However, the analyst expects a re-acceleration in the third-quarter, assuming improvement in the global economy 
Apple (AAPL) shares edged up by 1% Thursday.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple's (AAPL) highest-end iPhone, the iPhone 14 Pro, is receiving discounts from Chinese retailers by more than $100 as the smartphone market in the world's most populous country remains weak.