The App Store has long been an important part of Apple’s business model. The App Store wasn’t launched until 2008, shortly after the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, but since then it has absolutely taken off. How much? Well, it now accounts for a hefty 13 percent of Apple’s revenue. Oh, and it’s the only part of Apple’s business that reported growth last quarter.
“2016 was a record-shattering year for the App Store, generating $20 billion for developers, and 2017 is off to a great start with Jan. 1 as the single-biggest day ever on the App Store,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement.
New Year’s Day sales aren’t the only notable figures Apple reported. The company also shared App Store figures for last year, revealing that it made a massive $20 billion during 2016, which is up a huge 40 percent compared to 2015. That’s especially noteworthy considering that since the App Store was launched in 2008, it has made $60 billion — so its figures for last year represent a third of the App Store’s all-time sales.
When it comes to specific apps, Pokémon Go was — not at all surprisingly — the most downloaded app of the year, while Super Mario Run was the most downloaded app on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
When it comes to specific regions, Apple took a moment to brag about its growth in China — where it showed a record 90 percent growth last year compared to the year before.
