Apple's App Store Reaches 50 Billion Downloads, Now on Pace for 20 Billion Apps Per Year

[finalcut]

Damn me, I forgot to follow that thing and ask my kids to download free app near the end!

 

[ThunderSkunk]

In this thread, we complain about the prize, even though none of us won it.

 

[nordicappeal]

You can spend $10,000 in no time.

It's 166 barrels of Smurf Berries! And it will be 5h and 20min of fun due to the $500/15 min IAP restriction.

(Also, and this isn't the reason for limiting it only to the App Store and iTunes, but Apple only has to spend $7,000 to give $10,000 due to Apple getting 30% of every sale.)

When you put it that way

 

[ctdonath]

Hm. More interesting would be to divide by how many dev's were paid that 9bil.

I'll bet that looks slightly better.

Averages out to $10,000 per app.

Considering 2/3rds are "zombie apps" (no links, no apparent way to find them, presumed few if any sales) that leaves next to nothing for most developers, and still not a lot for most of the remaining...with crazy huge money going to a very few (EA, Rovio...).

That's little more than hobby money for most developers.

 

[I WAS the one]

Why spotlight that unusable, mediocre, senseless Paper app?? OMG! Procreate is more impressive and more beautiful even more professional than the Sketchbook Pro app and Apple and all the press are blindly talking and wow-ing this Paper app that is not good at all! I bought everything they got inside their in-store app just to see if that was the problem but NO. It its not worth it. I really hate how this Paper app is getting so much attention and all is pure lies

 

[firewood]

I read the Android App store just hit 48 Billion. I wonder if Apple will flaunt the next milestone even if Androids numbers will ellipse it by multiples.

At the current developer payout rate per month, the Android number will have to eclipse Apple's by about 3X before Android devs come close to making as much money as iOS devs, on average, or in total.

But I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big rush of iOS developers becoming mobile cross platform developers once Play store revenue gets past 50% of iTunes App store revenue. That time seems to be getting closer.