Apple has announced that it has paid out a whopping $70 billion USD to its global developer community since the App Store launched in 2008. Apple also stated that in the past 12 months, downloads have grown over 70 percent.
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president 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.”
Upon hearing that Apple has paid out $70 billion, our minds may initially turn to the initial costs of an app. One important source that contributed to the total figure was app subscriptions. Subscriptions are available to developers making apps for all 25 available categories. Apple reports that the active paid subscriptions are up 58 percent year over year.
Apple said that apps in the Gaming and Entertainment categories bring in the most revenue, with hit games helping with the revenue figure. Most games are free to download but then make money from in-game perks which help the player progress through the game.
Source: Apple