Edible Apple

With CES kicking off tomorrow, don’t sleep on Apple. The company today issued a press release boasting that they’ve now seen over 40 billion downloads from the iTunes App Store. What’s more, the press release boasts of over 500 million active iTunes accounts and over 775,000 available applications for iOS devices.

“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” explained Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”

And illustrating just how fast the iOS ecosystem is growing, almost half of the aforementioned 40 billion downloads occurred in 2012. What’s more, over 2 billion applications were downloaded this past December, setting a monthly download record in the process.

Even more noteworthy, I think, is that the App Store has now doled out over $7 billion to developers. Money is the name of the game and in that regard no other app store can even hold a candle to what Apple is providing developer right now. If you want to monetize your apps, there’s no disputing that the iTunes App Store provides the best avenue for that in the tech world today.

Apple’s press release also highlights some of the more noteworthy/successful app releases of 2012.

In 2012, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times; Backflip Studios and Supercell, two emerging game development studios, brought in over $100 million combined for their leading freemium titles DragonVale and Clash of Clans; and emerging services including Uber, Flipboard, HotelTonight, and AirBnB attracted millions of users on iOS. Companies including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Autodesk, Marvel and Major League Baseball continued to expand their iOS offerings, while developers like JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Interactive and Bottle Rocket Apps continued to push the boundaries of what iOS apps can do.

via Apple