Just a couple days ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple has today announced that it has achieved an impressive milestone related to the App Store. The total earnings for App Store Developers has topped off $70 billion, taking into account the complete life span of the same.
Cupertino debuted the App Store way back in 2008 with the launch of iPhone OS 2 and developers have since been onboarded the said platform and caused an app explosion — the term which describes the flood of apps available for everyone. This is the case since tech giants made the development of apps quite easy for everyone. Anyone with basic programming skills can pick up the basics and start writing an app for iOS or the Mac.
A $70 million payout to the iOS developer community also implies that Apple earned 30 percent of the total amount, which will be $100 million, as part of its 70/30 revenue split agreement with the developers. This means it also earned $30 million dollars in the process.
Commenting on this achievement, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Marketing said:
People everywhere love apps and our customers are downloading them in record numbers. Seventy billion dollars earned by developers is simply mind-blowing. We are amazed at all of the great new apps our developers create and can’t wait to see them again next week at our Worldwide Developers Conference.
In the official press statement, Apple continues to mention that the number of download in the past twelve months (one year) have increased by around 70 percent. This, it mentions, has been made possible due to phenomenal hits from Nintendo such as Pokémon GO and Super Mario Run.
Not only limited to games, the App Store witnessed a stand-out performance from apps like — CancerAid, SPACE by THIX, Zones for Training with Exercise Intensity, Vanido, Ace Tennis and Havenly among others. The gaming and entertainment categories are the top-grossing followed by lifestyle, health and fitness apps – witnessed a 70 percent growth in the past year. As the focus steadily shifts to the camera, the photo and video category have also started picking heat.
It further continues to mention that App Store developers can create apps or experiences for customers in 155 countries. Cupertino also talks about the subscription business model, which it has now opened to every developer across 25 categories of the App Store. Apple mentions that the revenue generated from the same has grown 58 percent year-over-year with customers enjoying their most loved content without any hassles.
As mentioned on its jobs website, Apple counts these app developers a notable part of their widely known movement to conquer the technology space. It mentions that the App Store helped generate close to 1,530,000 U.S. jobs last year, up from around 1,400,000 in 2015. Apple’s App Store has generated earnings worth more than $16 billion for U.S. developers in the last decade.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is scheduled to start this coming Monday, on June 5th, and it is where we will learn more about the company’s plans to empower the developers. It has been building upon the features and qualities of the App Store to not only provide an ease of usability to its users but also the developers — who make these apps and maintain them regularly.
