The end-of-the-year Apple App Store numbers for 2017 have turned out to be real impressive for the company. Apple announced that customers spent over $890 million on the apps or purchases made between Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, 2017.
Record App Store numbers
On Thursday, Apple also stated that on New Year’s Day alone, users shelled out $300 million in the App Store, outperforming last year’s record-setting figure of $240 million spent on Jan. 1, 2017.
“App Store customers around the world made apps and games a bigger part of their holiday season in 2017 than ever before, culminating in $300 million in purchases made on New Year’s Day 2018,” Apple said in a press release.
All the data boils down to the fact that more than a billion dollars were spent in App Store purchases during the holidays. The number is in no way small, especially considering a third-party research report, which stated that the majority of U.S. smartphone users download zero new apps per month, notes The Verge. For 2016, the iPhone maker stated that December was the biggest ever, raking in $3 billion in revenue. As of now, it is not clear if December 2017 broke that record.
Apple App Store numbers are a good indicator of the iPhone’s demand as a new iPhone owner is more likely to spend money in the App Store. So, investors will be paying close attention to the App Store numbers as it will give hints of the demand of the new iPhones.
New App Store design impresses all
Reviews for the refreshed App Store have also been positive. The new design and interface make the app and game discovery easy and simple. Around half a billion customers are visiting the App Store every week, claims Apple.
In a statement, Apple’s Senior Vice President Phil Schiller stated that the iOS developers earned $26.5 billion during 2017, an increase of around 30% compared to 2016. Adding this number to the earnings of the developers since 2008, gives a total of $86 billion.
Schiller stated that Apple is thrilled to witness the reaction to the new App Store design, which was introduced as part of the iOS 11.
“We are thrilled with the reaction to the new App Store and to see so many customers discovering and enjoying new apps and games,” the executive said, adding that the creative app developers who made the apps powerful enough to change people’s lives, are to be thanked for the achievement.
No dearth of AR-based titles
The Cupertino, California-based company’s announcement also negates a recent report which claimed that there are less than 1,000 ARKit-enabled apps in the App Store, notes 9to5mac. According to Apple, customers are now enjoying almost 2,000 ARKit apps across all categories, including Pokémon GO and other popular games.
“Pokémon GO went back to the top of the App Store charts on December 21 with the introduction of new augmented reality features, built on Apple’s ARKit framework for more detailed and realistic gameplay,” Apple said.
Other popular AR titles in the App Store are Stack AR and Kings of Pool, and CSR Racing.
On Thursday, Apple shares closed up 0.46% at $173.03.