Apple had a very lucrative holiday season, breaking all previous App Store records during the weeks of Christmas and New Year's.
It seems that Apple fans were busy shopping for apps and in-app content in the holiday period, and they definitely didn't shy away from purchases.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Jan. 6, Apple announced that customers spent more than $1.1 billion on apps and in-apps purchases in the App Store, and that was only during the holidays. For the whole year, the total amount customers spent in the App Store goes all the way up to a staggering $20 billion.
Jan. 1 marked the biggest day in Apple's entire App Store history, with customers spending more than $144 million to kick off the New Year in full force. The previous single-day record was not more than a week old, as it was set on Christmas day.
"The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone," says Philip Schiller, Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing, in the press release.
"We're grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can't wait for what's to come in 2016."
Developers have raked in more than $40 billion since 2008 worldwide, Apple further notes, highlighting that more than one third of that total amount was from the last year alone.
The impressive success of the App Store stretches even further. Apple takes pride in creating and supporting 1.9 million jobs in the United States, and says that the App Store's success played a major role in this achievement. More than 1.4 million of those jobs are related to software engineers, app creators and entrepreneurs developing apps for iOS, or some other non-IT jobs the app economy supports.
Outside of the U.S., Apple offered 1.2 million jobs in Europe, as well as 1.4 million jobs in China.
When it comes to the most popular content in the App Store, the top categories were Gaming, Entertainment and Social Networking. Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Trivia Crack, Heads Up!, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat and WeChat were among the top choices. Games, along with subscription apps, also dominated top-grossing titles in 2015.
At the same time, both the Apple Watch and the Apple TV hit the scene in 2015, bringing new app experiences and changing how consumers use apps and content. The most popular apps for the Apple watch include: Nike+ Running and Lifesum in the Fitness category, Citymapper and iTranslate in the Travel category and for the Apple TV, HBO NOW, Beat Sports and Rayman Adventures proved to be big hits.
Despite the record-breaking holiday App Store success, however, some are concerned that Apple is on a downward trend in terms of smartphone sales. According to a new report, Apple cut component orders for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus by 30 percent due to sluggish demand. The report sent Apple shares tumbling down.
