App Store Sets New Records With $240M in Sales on New Year's Day, $20B Paid to Developers in 2016

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that January 1, 2017 was the iOS App Store's "busiest day ever" with $240 million total in customer purchases made on the storefront on New Year's Day. Looking back at the past year, App Store developers made $20 billion in 2016, which the company said was up 40 percent from 2015.

In the announcement, Apple gave a few statistics on categories like the top grossing apps of the year, which included Monster Strike, Fantasy Westward, Clash Royale, and Pokémon Go. Following a launch in December, Super Mario Run was the number one downloaded app on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Throughout December, customers spent $3 billion in total on the App Store, which Apple said was another record-breaking month for the company.

"2016 was a record-shattering year for the App Store, generating $20 billion for developers, and 2017 is off to a great start with January 1 as the single biggest day ever on the App Store," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "We want to thank our entire developer community for the many innovative apps they have created -- which together with our products -- help to truly enrich people's lives."

In total, the App Store now offers 2.2 million apps, having increased by 20 percent from 2015. Independently developed apps, like Prisma, Reigns, Procreate, Lumino City, Sweat With Kayla and djay Pro, were listed as some of the "most successful apps" of 2016.

Globally, Apple said that the App Store helped raise over $17 million in both the fight against AIDS thanks to its annual PRODUCT(RED) campaign, as well as for the World Wildlife Fund thanks to the Apps for Earth program. The Chinese App Store has grown 90 percent in 2016, and in total the top-grossing markets for the App Store are ranked as: the U.S., China, Japan and the U.K.

In terms of apps with subscription fees, Netflix, HBO Now, Line, Tinder and MLB.com At Bat were listed as the most popular. Revenue from subscription fees grew 74 percent in 2016 to $2.7 billion, following major changes Apple made to App Store fees for these specific subscription video apps.

The all-new iMessage App Store also got a mention today, with Apple announcing that 21,000 iMessages apps are now available for users to install. Data gathered by Sensor Tower back in September accounted for just under 2,000 iMessage apps in the App Store, with sticker-related apps remaining the most popular throughout the year.

Article Link: App Store Sets New Records With $240M in Sales on New Year's Day, $20B Paid to Developers in 2016

 

[SoN1NjA]

"why do apps always get on the iPhone first?"

Lol

 

[avanpelt]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why so much of Apple's focus is on iOS devices. They'd be foolish not to focus on the cash cow that generated 240M in revenue in ONE day. That's 10M per hour. Absolutely crazy.

 

[SoN1NjA]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why so much of Apple's focus is on iOS devices. They'd be foolish not to focus on the cash cow that generated 240M in revenue in ONE day. That's 10M per hour. Absolutely crazy.

That's $2700 per second, holy ****

 

[pmau]

The distribution of these dollars to developers would be way more interesting.
It's the typical 1%, 99% Problem.

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

Never ceases to amaze me. I've had an iPhone since the beginning and I don't think I've spent more than $10 on the App Store. I'm too lazy to look, but I'd like to know what types of apps are generating the most revenue. I imagine it's games.

 

[2457282]

Can't find any thing negative to comment about in this article. Drats Apple, we here expect to find fault. Please make another statement that we can whine about. Thanks.

 

[slimothy]

That's a lot of nuts! Err, money! Props to anyone who gets the reference.

 

[Macneck]

Then maybe it's about time to provide the store with a decent search engine
[doublepost=1483626502][/doublepost]

Can't find any thing negative to comment about in this article. Drats Apple, we here expect to find fault. Please make another statement that we can whine about. Thanks.

Read a wee bit below

 

[Weaselboy]

...I'd like to know what types of apps are generating the most revenue. I imagine it's games.

Yep... you called it. Mostly games.

Interestingly, every app on this list is a free download with "in app purchases."

 

[djcerla]

iOS installed base and Services revenues are simply skyrocketing.

Apple will blow past records on Q1 2017 announcement.

 

[wkp765]

That's incredibly amazing - but I do wonder why so many people were spending extra money on the App Store that day? Hungover in bed playing Clash of Clans?

 

[Applebot1]

Nice to hear some positive news.

 

[adamjackson]

Has Apple already pruned inactive applications that haven't been updated in 2 years? I wonder if that growth of available applications will slow when Apple gets rid of a hundred thousand apps that were optimized for iOS7 and then left to rot?

 

[SoN1NjA]

Never ceases to amaze me. I've had an iPhone since the beginning and I don't think I've spent more than $10 on the App Store. I'm too lazy to look, but I'd like to know what types of apps are generating the most revenue. I imagine it's games.

I really don't ever spend money anymore, I do on rare occasions

 

[BuddyTronic]

$3 BILLION for the App Store in December!

That is amazing.

 

[ntnskrds]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why so much of Apple's focus is on iOS devices. They'd be foolish not to focus on the cash cow that generated 240M in revenue in ONE day. That's 10M per hour. Absolutely crazy.

Yet each one of these apps involved at least one mac in the develop-debug-test-distribute cycle. It makes perfect sense (bussines-wise) to focus on iOS but ignore the mac too much and this whole thing will collapse.

 

[Jax44]

The distribution of these dollars to developers would be way more interesting.
It's the typical 1%, 99% Problem.

Read

20 Billion to Developers

 

[Juicy Box]

Following a launch in December, Super Mario Run was the number one downloaded app on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

I am hoping that the ATV4 gets Super Mario Run.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

nvm

 

[andy.ringwood]

And people wonder why developers create apps for iOS first or iOS only...
[doublepost=1483628521][/doublepost]

iOS installed base and Services revenues are simply skyrocketing.

Apple will blow past records on Q1 2017 announcement.

Well it hasn't been said yet so I'll say it.

Apple are Doomed.

 

[wigby]

I am hoping that the ATV4 gets Super Mario Run.

Super Mario Run only runs in portrait so it would be weird for TVs but I guess I would give it a try.

 

[Juicy Box]

Super Mario Run only runs in portrait so it would be weird for TVs but I guess I would give it a try.

yea, that would be a downside, but there could be something added to the sides, so it is not just black bars.

 

[dumastudetto]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why so much of Apple's focus is on iOS devices. They'd be foolish not to focus on the cash cow that generated 240M in revenue in ONE day. That's 10M per hour. Absolutely crazy.

Exactly right. Tim Cook is doing the right thing by devoting more and more resources to the iOS ecosystem, and phasing out investments in the Mac. I don't expect Mac fans to be happy, but Apple is doing the right thing for the vast majority of its customers.
[doublepost=1483629122][/doublepost]

Yet each one of these apps involved at least one mac in the develop-debug-test-distribute cycle. It makes perfect sense (bussines-wise) to focus on iOS but ignore the mac too much and this whole thing will collapse.

It won't be long until complete sophisticated iOS development can be done on iOS devices. When that happens, the Mac is dead. And of course, Apple could port its dev tools to another platform like Windows if people still want to develop apps using traditional computers.

 

[Juicy Box]

Exactly right. Tim Cook is doing the right thing by devoting more and more resources to the iOS ecosystem, and phasing out investments in the Mac. I don't expect Mac fans to be happy, but Apple is doing the right thing for the vast majority of its customers.

They could focus on both, it is not like they are a tiny company with limited resources.