Apple’s iOS App Store Hits 25 Billion Downloads

Apple revealed that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the users of the more than 315 million iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices around the globe.

The 25 billionth app downloaded, “Where’s My Water?” (free version), was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 (£6,300) iTunes Gift Card, the company said.

App explosion

The App Store offers more than 550,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users in 123 countries worldwide, with more than 170,000 native iPad apps available. App Store customers can choose from a wide range of apps in 21 categories, including Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health and fitness, and travel. The App Store has paid out more than $4 billion to developers, the company reported.

“We’d like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve this historic milestone of 25 billion apps downloaded,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services. “When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users.”

Al Hilwa, applications development software analyst at research firm IDC, told The Globe and Mail the 25 billion milestone is a symbol for the explosive growth of the app economy.

“Apps bring a simplicity of interaction that eluded previous generations,” he told the paper. “Enterprise applications will eventually follow consumer ones, marking an industry transition to this style of software.”

TechNet, a bipartisan policy and political network of technology chief executives that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, released a study in February showing that there are now roughly 466,000 jobs in the “App Economy” in the United States, up from zero in 2007.

Job creation

The top metro area for App Economy jobs is New York City and its surrounding suburban counties, although San Francisco and San Jose, California, together substantially exceed New York.

While California tops the list of App Economy states with nearly one in four jobs, states, including Georgia, Florida and Illinois get their share as well. In fact, the report found more than two-thirds of App Economy employment is outside California and New York.

The results also suggest that the App Economy is growing quickly, and that the location and number of app-related jobs are likely to shift greatly in the years ahead.

“America’s App Economy – which had zero jobs just five years ago before the iPhone was introduced – demonstrates that we can quickly create economic value and jobs through cutting-edge innovation,” said Rey Ramsey, president and chief executive of TechNet. “The App Economy is creating jobs in every part of America, employing hundreds of thousands of US workers today and even more in the years to come.”