App Store has made $10bn in sales for Apple
APPLE has seen more than $10bn (£6.2bn) spent on apps since it launched its App Store four and a half years ago.
The iPad and iPhone maker said that more than 40bn apps have been downloaded since July 2008, and that the rate is increasing, with nearly 20bn of those downloads occurring in 2012 alone.
Apple takes a 30 per cent cut on all apps, meaning that it has raked in over $3bn and paid $7bn to developers since the App Store opened. This business alone would make Apple one of the world’s biggest media firms.
The company said December had been record-breaking, with more than 2bn apps downloaded in the month that millions of iPhones and iPads were unwrapped on Christmas day.
Over 775,000 apps have been developed since Apple introduced the store along with the launch of its second-generation iPhone, the 3G.
“Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world,” Apple’s software chief Eddy Cue said.
App development has become an increasingly lucrative business for developers. One of the most successful, Swedish firm Rovio, is now estimated to have revenues of more than £100m from its wildly-popular Angry Birds franchise. Meanwhile, average salaries for app developers in the UK are now at an all-time high of £70,000, according to ReThink Recruitment. Of the 775,000 apps available, around 300,000 are dedicated to the iPad, Apple said.