computerwoche.de

Archiv

Apple sells its one billionth iPhone app

23.04.2009
Nine months after opening its App Store, Apple announced on its Web site that it reached the milestone of selling its one billionth iPhone application on Thursday. The lucky winner of Apple's of selling its one billionth app will get a US$10,000 iTunes Gift Card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro (we'll let you know who won and which app it was when that information is available).

The App Store, which currently has more than 35,000 apps available for download, is perhaps the sleeping giant of Apple's mobile strategy. Everyone thought it would be cool to be able to download an app for the iPhone, but I don't think anyone knew it would catch hold so quickly.

The App Store isn't just good for Apple in terms of revenue (the company gets 30 percent of the sales), it has also been a boon for developers too. The iPhone brought a lot of developers to the platform who have seen amazing success of apps that are free, or cost $1 or a few dollars.

"Tap Tap Revenge has been downloaded nearly 10 million times, so we have a lot of pride in contributing to a significant chunk of this traffic and salute Apple on the 1 billionth download," said Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous.

Apple managed to draw out some of the big hitters in the industry to develop applications too. One of the biggest is Electronic Arts and its stable of gaming applications.

"We congratulate Apple on achieving one billion App Store downloads and we're proud to have Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition and Tetris among the all-time top selling apps," said Adam Sussman, vice president of worldwide publishing for EA Mobile. "We're excited that Need For Speed Undercover, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Trivial Pursuit and American Idol will all be available on the App Store in the coming weeks."