Apple"s App Store for its iOS devices launched in 2008 and arguably started an all new software economy in the process. Today, Apple announced that iOS users spent over $10 billion in the App Store in 2013. That number includes over $1 billion in December from nearly three billion apps that were downloaded, which the company said was the most successful month in the store"s history.
Apple"s press release added that since the launch of the App Store, developers have earned a total $15 billion in revenue. This is over double the amount Apple said iOS app teams earned a year ago in 2013. The company also said there are now over one million apps in the store, including over 500,000 that have been optimized for the iPad. This compares to 775,000 apps that were available for download in 2013, with over 300,000 native iPad apps.
Since the launch of the iOS App Store, Google and Microsoft have released their own versions for the Android and Windows Phone operating systems. Microsoft recently announced there are now over 200,000 Windows Phone apps available for download while Google Play has over one million Android apps.
Image via Apple