Apple Boasts of ‘Record’ £331m App Store Spend In First Week Of January

Apple says iPhone and iPad users spent a record total of $500 million (£331m) on applications and in-app-purchases on the App Store during the first week of January, while New Year’s Day was the single biggest day in the six-year old marketplace’s history.

The company says this builds on another record-breaking year in which developers made $10 billion (£6.61bn) in revenue as the amount spent by customers increased by 50 percent. Since the App Store launched in 2008 with just 500 apps, developers have made $25 billion (£16.5bn).

App store records

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users.”

There are now 1.4 million apps on the App Store, 725,000 of which work for the iPad, with the introduction of the HealthKit and HomeKit frameworks in iOS 8 allowing developers to create new health and fitness applications as well as software for the smart home.

However apps in the UK are set to become a little bit more expensive later this week as Apple adjusts prices in response to changing tax and currency exchange rates. The company has sent a letter to developers informing them of the changes, which should take effect within the next 36 hours.

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