Apple today announced that customers have downloaded over 40 billion apps (unique downloads excluding re-downloads and updates), with nearly 20 billion in 2012 alone. The App Store has over 500 million active accounts and had a record-breaking December with over two billion downloads during the month. Apple’s incredible developer community has created over 775,000 apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users worldwide, and developers have been paid over seven billion dollars by Apple.
“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, in the press release. “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.”
In 2012, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times; Backflip Studios and Supercell, two emerging game development studios, brought in over $100 million combined for their leading freemium titles DragonVale and Clash of Clans; and emerging services including Uber, Flipboard, HotelTonight, and AirBnB attracted millions of users on iOS. Companies including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Autodesk, Marvel and Major League Baseball continued to expand their iOS offerings, while developers like JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Interactive and Bottle Rocket Apps continued to push the boundaries of what iOS apps can do.
“The success of our game Temple Run in 2012 was nothing short of astonishing,” said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios. “We were simply looking to create a game that was fun and easy to play, but once it hit the App Store, the game took off. This past year, we saw more than 75 million downloads of Temple Run on iOS.”
“Our success on iOS has been incredible,” said Samir Hanna, vice president of Consumer Products for Autodesk. “We set off with the modest goal of bringing SketchBook to iPhone users as a way of introducing them to Autodesk. Fast forward three years, we now offer 20 apps to iOS users that have achieved more than 50 million downloads, and we continue to roll out new creativity and design tools that appeal to both professionals and consumers.”
“The App Store provided us with opportunities beyond our wildest dreams,” said Bad Robot Interactive’s JJ Abrams. “Our app Action Movie FX was designed to bring Hollywood special effects to anyone’s self-made video, whether that be on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and we’re just thrilled that millions of fans around the world were as excited as we were about the possibilities that this app brings.”
“Bottle Rocket Apps now employs over 100 full-time employees, dedicated to nothing but building great apps,” said Calvin Carter, president of Bottle Rocket Apps. “In my 20 plus years in technology, I have never seen such a vibrant marketplace for software like the App Store.”
Apple offers developers a wealth of resources and tools to help them make great apps, plus a robust ecosystem and marketplace which provide customers a safe and easy way to discover them. Apple also provides developers great ways to monetize apps including in-app purchase, subscriptions and advertising, and helps market and support developer efforts in the App Store and beyond.
The revolutionary App Store offers more than 775,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 155 countries around the world, with more than 300,000 native iPad apps available. App Store customers can choose from an incredible range of apps in 23 categories, including newspapers and magazines offered in Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health & fitness and travel.
Source: Apple Inc.
Now skiled developers can make a forture selling clever apps for a few bucks a pop, vs working for Adobe or Microsoft and signing their inventions away for a salary.
Now software costing hundreds (Office) or thousands (Adobe) is an absurdity, as well as their pathetic new tactic of selling software “subscriptions.”
Now a shrink-wrapped physical software package is as old-fashioned as a VHS tape.
Thank you, Apple, for disintermediating the big software companies and democtratizing application development. It’s been fantastic, and the culture of small, targetted, affordable apps has spilled over to the Mac platform as well. In future years we’ll look back at this as one of the truly important innovations in IT.
@Bubbles: almost like opendoc all over again…
Seriously, though. I’ve heard that the App Store is dying because all apps are going away. I keep hearing about iOS apps being replaced by HTML5 or something to that effect and that the App Store is already history due to future demonetization of apps. Not sure if that’s true or not, but it’s a theme I continue to see pop up.
this is sarcasm, right?
Where did you hear that laughing boy? On the Internet? Or are you starting the rumor yourself?
Go back under your bridge. You are not wanted here.
I remember the pathetic attempt that my cell phone service provider to sell apps over the last 10 years. I doubt if they sold a total of a billion apps ever. Thanks Apple for doing it right.
I am certain that iTunes App Store sales could be much higher had Apple allowed easy search for iPhone apps on the iPad in iOS 6 as it had been in iOS 5. Developers should be pounding on Apple’s door to restore the marketing of iPhone apps on the iPad.
I’d like to hear what other developers have to say.
And since the last announcement, they now have gained about 100M user accounts (>500M versus >400M). Does that mean 100M new iOS devives?
WOW!!!
(OK OK, probably less: there were also new iTunes countries added)
But… but I thought Apple products were the most returned items of the Christmas season?!? This doesn’t make sense… 😉