Apple Announces Record $1.1 Billion App Store Sales During Holiday Season

Appstore-HolidaysApple today announced the 2015 holiday season was the "biggest ever" for the App Store, with customers spending a record-breaking $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases over a two-week period ending January 3, 2016.

Christmas Day and New Year's Day both set single-day records, with customers spending over $144 million on January 1, 2016. Apple has now paid out nearly $40 billion to developers worldwide since the App Store launched in 2008.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said App Store sales topped $20 billion in 2015:

“The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We're grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can't wait for what's to come in 2016.”

Apple said it has now created 1.9 million jobs in the U.S., with over 1.4 million of those jobs attributable to app development and non-IT jobs supported by the app ecosystem. Apple's spend and investment with US-based suppliers also supports 361,000 jobs, and the company directly employs more than 76,000 people in the U.S., representing nearly two‑thirds of its worldwide team.

Apple created two new app ecosystems this year with the new Apple TV and Apple Watch, building upon its iOS and Mac storefronts. The company keeps 30% of App Store revenue, meaning it earned over $6 billion in 2015 after paying developers. There are now over 1.6 million apps on the App Store, according to MacRumors sister website AppShopper.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Confirms iOS 26 Wallet Passport Feature is Coming in 2025

Tuesday September 23, 2025 1:06 pm PDT by
Digital ID, the iOS 26 feature that lets U.S. passport holders add their passports to the Wallet app, is coming later in 2025, Apple confirmed today. Apple updated the release timing wording of Digital ID on its iOS 26 features page. "Digital ID will be coming later this year with US passports only," it reads. Prior to today, the footnote for the feature said "Digital ID will be available ...

Top Rated Comments

extricated Avatar
127 months ago
hmmm. Would I want to be an iOS developer, or an Android developer?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Coder0101 Avatar
127 months ago
A surprisingly large group of iOS developers reached the top by skills alone. If you have a good idea and can implement it, then luck and marketing budget do not need to be factors.
Well, i know over 100 iOS developers and only 1 or 2 of them have been (relatively) successful. Let's revise that to: You either need luck OR marketing money. A good idea is a must, of course. But this alone does not make your app successful.
And - it helps to have Apple on your side to get a worldwide promo.
In addition, competition is tough... for every good idea there are 3-4 remakes quickly. It's not guaranteed that YOUR app is the one to win ;-)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
127 months ago
$1.1B: same as Star Wars
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zmmyt Avatar
127 months ago
That's a ludicrous amount of money!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Coder0101 Avatar
127 months ago
Over 90% of this money is made by only 1% of all apps. So - being an iOS developer is NOT the solution if you want to make money. You have to be ONE of the 1% (or even less)... and you need a ton of luck and marketing money!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ozziegn Avatar
127 months ago
Over $1B in app sales over two weeks? I wonder if Android can (or could ever) make that same claim? lol
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)