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

Wednesday January 6, 2016 4:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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.

Tag: App Store
[ 73 comments ]


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extricated
32 months ago
hmmm. Would I want to be an iOS developer, or an Android developer?
Rating: 10 Votes
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Coder0101
32 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 ;-)
Rating: 7 Votes
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Tymmz
32 months ago
That's a ludicrous amount of money!
Rating: 6 Votes
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Mac Fly (film)
32 months ago
$1.1B: same as Star Wars
Rating: 6 Votes
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Coder0101
32 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!
Rating: 5 Votes
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ozziegn
32 months ago
Over $1B in app sales over two weeks? I wonder if Android can (or could ever) make that same claim? lol
Rating: 4 Votes
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peterdevries
32 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!


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.
Rating: 3 Votes
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69Mustang
32 months ago

Wrong. This is NOT as black and white an issue as you profess.

Developing is no different than any other endeavor. Nothing worthwhile is easily obtained. It simply takes a lot of hard work, good ideas, and a lot of follow-through.

We are also NOT slaves to your statistics. Anything is possible.

What does your comment mean? Sounds like something you'd hear at an empowerment seminar.

Success in the app store does require a crap ton of luck and marketing, be it organic word of mouth, Apple highlighting, or an actual marketing campaign. peterdevries mentions skill, which is important, but success in the app store can be had without it. That's where luck come in.
Rating: 3 Votes
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newdeal
32 months ago
looks like its about $1000 per second...I guess that isn't too bad
Rating: 3 Votes
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firewood
32 months ago

It's great to see so many iOS developers making so much money.


Only the developers of apps in the top 2% or so make "much money". The other 90%+ make a little pocket change. It's a big gamble... unless you have a major marketing budget or exclusive content. Some companies even spend millions on TV ads.
Rating: 3 Votes

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