Apple vs Spotify: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Apple reported $416.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $112B of net income. Spotify reported ~$19.4B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$2.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Apple
Apple's fiscal 2025 results describe a hardware business with software margins. Net sales rose 6 percent to $416.2 billion, net income reached $112.0 billion, and total gross margin was 46.9 percent, split between 36.8 percent on Products and 75.4 percent on Services. Services revenue of $109.2 billion, up 14 percent, is the reason the blended margin keeps rising. Cash generation is the other defining feature: operations produced $111.5 billion in fiscal 2025, and Apple returned $89.3 billion through share repurchases and $15.4 billion in dividends, after announcing a new repurchase authorization of up to $100 billion and raising the quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share in May 2025. Research and development came to $34.6 billion, 8 percent of net sales, and cash plus marketable securities stood at $132.4 billion at year end.
Spotify
Spotify spent most of its history losing money, posting net losses every year from 2016 through 2023, including ~$601 million (EUR532 million) in 2023. Price increases, a 2023 cost reset and podcast restructuring changed that: net income reached ~$1.29 billion (EUR1.138 billion) in 2024 and ~$2.5 billion (EUR2.212 billion) in 2025 on revenue of ~$19.4 billion (EUR17.186 billion). In Q2 2026 gross margin reached a record 33.4%, free cash flow was ~$901 million (EUR797 million), and the company held ~$10.6 billion (EUR9.4 billion) of cash and short-term investments while buying back shares.
Revenue and profit by year
Apple
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $416.2B | $112B | 26.9% | +6.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $391B | $93.7B | 24.0% | +2.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $383.3B | $97B | 25.3% | -2.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $394.3B | $99.8B | 25.3% | +7.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $365.8B | $94.7B | 25.9% | +33.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $274.5B | $57.4B | 20.9% | +5.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $260.2B | $55.3B | 21.2% | -2.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $265.6B | $59.5B | 22.4% | +15.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $229.2B | $48.4B | 21.1% | +6.3% | Source |
| FY2016 | $215.6B | $45.7B | 21.2% | — | Source |
Spotify
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$19.4B | ~$2.5B | 12.9% | +9.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$17.7B | ~$1.3B | 7.3% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$15B | ~-$601.2M | -4.0% | +13.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$13.3B | ~-$485.9M | -3.7% | +21.3% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$10.9B | ~-$38.4M | -0.4% | +22.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | ~$8.9B | ~-$656.5M | -7.4% | +16.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | ~$7.6B | ~-$210.2M | -2.7% | +28.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | ~$5.9B | ~-$88.1M | -1.5% | +28.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | ~$4.6B | ~-$1.4B | -30.2% | +38.6% | Source |
| FY2016 | ~$3.3B | ~-$609.1M | -18.3% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Apple
- iPhone~50%
iPhone net sales were $209.6B in FY2025, up 4%, and the phone is the entry point into Services, accessories, AppleCare, iCloud and App Store spending.
- Services~26%
Services covers the App Store, advertising, cloud, AppleCare, payments, media subscriptions and licensing. FY2025 net sales were $109.2B, up 14%, at a 75.4% gross margin against 36.8% for Products.
- Mac and iPad~15%
Mac net sales were $33.7B and iPad $28.0B in FY2025, driven by Apple silicon refreshes, education, creative work and enterprise adoption.
- Wearables, Home and Accessories~9%
Apple Watch, AirPods, Vision Pro, home devices and accessories were $35.7B in FY2025, down 4%, and they deepen iPhone attachment.
Spotify
- Premium subscriptions
Recurring monthly fees from individual, duo, family, and student plans.
- Advertising
Audio, podcast, video, display, and programmatic advertising sold against free listening and creator inventory.
- Marketplace and creator tools
Promotion, discovery, and creator-facing services that support artists, labels, and publishers.
- Audiobooks and adjacent audio
Listening-hour economics and catalog expansion in selected markets.
Business model and strategy
Apple
How it makes money
Apple sells hardware at premium prices and keeps the software, distribution and payment layers on top of it. The iPhone is the entry point, at $209.6 billion of fiscal 2025 net sales, and it pulls customers into iOS, iCloud storage plans, App Store purchases, AppleCare and accessories.
Growth strategy
Growth now comes from monetizing an installed base of more than 2.5 billion devices rather than from unit growth alone. Services rose 14 percent to $109.2 billion in fiscal 2025 on the App Store, advertising, iCloud, AppleCare, payments and subscription media, and Apple packages them through the Apple One bundle.
Competitive advantage
Apple's advantage comes from owning the parts other phone makers buy. It designs its own silicon, the A20 Pro in iPhone 18 Pro and the M5 in Mac and iPad Pro, plus the operating systems, the app store, the payment layer and the retail channel, so hardware, software and services are tuned to each other.
Spotify
How it makes money
Spotify runs a freemium model. Premium subscriptions (individual, Duo, Family, Student and other plans) generate about 90% of revenue: in Q2 2026 Premium revenue was ~$4.89 billion (EUR4.331 billion) against ~$504 million (EUR446 million) of ad-supported revenue. The free tier monetises through audio, video and podcast advertising and acts as the main funnel into paid plans.
Growth strategy
Spotify is growing along three lines: pricing and plan mix (price increases lifted Premium ARPU 7.4% at constant currency in Q2 2026), new formats (video podcasts, audiobooks in Premium, and partner video such as the September 2026 Genius series deal), and fan products such as Reserved, a Live Nation-backed early ticket access feature launched in the US in 2026.
Competitive advantage
Spotify's advantages are scale, personalization and reach. With 777 million monthly users it has more listening data than any rival dedicated to audio, which feeds features such as Discover Weekly, Daylist and AI DJ. It runs on phones, desktops, consoles, cars, TVs and smart speakers from competing ecosystems, and cultural moments such as Wrapped turn usage data into marketing.
Questions about Apple vs Spotify
Which company has higher revenue — Apple Inc. or Spotify Technology S.A.?
Apple Inc. reported $416.2B (FY2025), while Spotify Technology S.A. reported ~$19.4B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. is the larger business, with Spotify Technology S.A. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Apple Inc. vs Spotify Technology S.A.?
Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.98T, while Spotify Technology S.A.'s is $102.0B. Apple Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Spotify Technology S.A..
Which is more financially efficient — Apple Inc. or Spotify Technology S.A.?
Apple Inc. generates $2.51M / employee in revenue per employee, while Spotify Technology S.A. generates $2.66M / employee. Spotify Technology S.A. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Apple Inc. and Spotify Technology S.A. make money?
Apple Inc. and Spotify Technology S.A. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Apple Inc.: Apple sells hardware at premium prices and keeps the software, distribution and payment layers on top of it. Spotify Technology S.A.: Spotify runs a freemium model.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Apple Inc. or Spotify Technology S.A.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Apple Inc. trades at 12.0x P/S and Spotify Technology S.A. at 5.3x P/S. Apple Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Spotify Technology S.A.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Apple Inc. bigger than Spotify Technology S.A.?
By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. ($416.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Spotify Technology S.A. (~$19.4B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Apple vs Spotify overview