Apple CEO Tim Cook today announced that Apple had paid out $8B to developers, a number that displays an increase of $1B since the last time numbers were announced on January 7th. That displays a massive increase in acceleration for developer payouts.
Back in October of last year, Apple announced $6.5B had been paid out to developers, which means that the January numbers marked an increase of just 500M. The holiday season payout likely drove the doubling of the numbers to a $1B jump this month, as owners of new iPads and iPhones jumped onto the store to purchase apps.
The increase in payouts demonstrates that the developer ecosystem of iOS continues to be vibrant, especially as it represents actual paid downloads of apps, not free downloads or overall share. Cook’s announcement of the numbers was no accident, as it allows Apple to advertise itself as the best place for developers to make money with their apps.
Apple’s App Store crossed the 775,000 app mark in December, with a good chunk of those designed for the iPad. During his interview today, Cook noted the number of iPad apps on the store as a clear differentiator for the company in the tablet race, calling Apple the ‘poster child of the post-PC revolution.
“We have over 300,000 apps custom designed for the tablet,” said Cook. “The other guys have a few hundred.”
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Clearly, Apple wants to continue to maintain that advantage, by making building for the store as attractive as possible.
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