Apple made a record-smashing $240M from the App Store on New Year's Day alone

By Christian de Looper January 5, 2017

apple overtakes samsung store — Adrianhancu/123RF

You could say Apple had a pretty decent holiday season. With so many people buying and giving iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices, it’s hardly surprising that the company reported huge App Store sales on New Years Day. Still, no one was expecting anything of this magnitude — the company reported a record-breaking $240 million in sales on New Year’s Day alone.

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…

Mobile

Why this new Apple Watch Ultra app made me want to go diving

The Apple Watch Ultra and Oceanic+ app.

The Apple Watch Ultra is an adventure smartwatch, with special features aimed at hikers, trekkers, outdoors enthusiasts, and divers. Apple collaborated with Huish Outdoors to create the newly released Oceanic+ app, which in combination with the sensors on the Apple Watch Ultra, turns it into a fully functioning, certified dive computer.

Before starting this article, I set out to take an in-depth look at the Oceanic+ app, and at the same time, compare its functionality and usefulness with the G-Shock GWF-D1000 Frogman dive watch — which also has a dive computer. It was by doing this that the Apple Watch Ultra, once again, surprised me. It did so because it encouraged me to do something new, and the Frogman has never quite managed the same thing. What do I mean? Let me explain.
What do they cost and what about certification?

Mobile

This EU law could force Apple to open up iMessage and the App Store

Someone holding an iPhone 14 with the display turned on.

The EU's Digital Markets Act (or DMA) has gone into force today. It could force Apple to open up the iPhone's iMessage and app-buying platforms to third-party apps and services. Companies that fall afoul of the act could be fined up to 20% of global turnover. Apple has previously criticized the DMA for being a "blunt instrument."

The DMA aims to allow smaller services to compete more equitably with larger ones. This means that companies with a certain number of users, labeled as gatekeepers, would have to make their platforms interoperable with smaller ones. Large platforms like Facebook or iMessage, for example, would be required to open up, while something like Signal could scrape by.

Mobile

The OG App, an ad-free Instagram client, is no longer on the App Store

the og app instagram alternative ad free ios

If you've been having trouble logging in to The OG App, deleting it, and trying to redownload it from the App Store — only to see it's nowhere to be found — you're not alone. The ad-free alternative to Instagram has been pulled from the App Store.

The OG App was created to bring users an old version of Instagram that didn't have in-app ads, recommendations, or Reels. But on Wednesday, Un1feed, the startup behind the app, tweeted that it was removed from the App Store despite its growing popularity. It pointed out that it was downloaded 10,000 times, reached number 50 in the App Store rankings, and received an average rating of 4.1 stars.