The tech company’s app marketplace reaches new heights, with almost 20 billion downloads in 2012.
An Apple press release confirms that iOS users really, really like downloading apps. It states that the App Store has topped 40 billion downloads, with nearly half of that number recorded in 2012 alone. (Before you ask, that’s excluding re-downloads and updates.)
The big numbers continue: the App Store has more than half a billion active user accounts, and last December was a record-breaker for the tech company with over two billion downloads during that time. Developers for the store also seem to be reaping rewards from their contributions, as Apple claims that content creators have been paid over seven billion dollars for their products.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, calls the previous year “incredible” for iOS developers. “We continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”
Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios (Temple Run) was one of the few developers that reaped profits during this time. “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,” he says. Temple Run enjoyed 75 million downloads in the previous year.
Despite the big figures, some analysts are wary of the news, with one analyst from Barclays cutting his price target on the company pending announcements on “new products and services to be launched in the Spring and through mid-year”. Distimo, an app analytics company, also noted that Google Play has been steadily outgrowing the App Store in the past four months, but the App Store is still out in front when it comes to absolute revenue.
Sources: Apple Press Info, Forbes, The Next Web
