Most companies wait until the end of the year to announce their biggest successes, but Apple decided to kick off 2015 with news developers were equally eager to share: a sharp rise in App Store sales of 50 percent.
The company said roughly $10 billion was generated for iOS app and mobile game developers, a further indication that its platform tends to be a strong source of monetization. Apple also suggested that its platform was responsible for creating more than 1 million jobs in the U.S. alone.
A number of developers and app companies sounded near-euphoric on Twitter after the news of the App Store sales spread.
Apple's App Store, stronger than ever! > "Apple Rings in New Year With Record App Store Sales" http://t.co/TkwnO6aYPE
— Oscar Yasser (Akira) (@akirareiko) January 8, 2015
This market is exploding, WOW!...Apple App Store Billings Up 50% In 2014. Total Of $25BN Now Paid To http://t.co/IsnlZosoR0
— Mark Ghermezian (@Markgher) January 8, 2015
Apple also said App Store sales looked strong in the first week of January, though a number of developers drew attention to the importance of holidays and the introduction of new iPhones and iPads.
We purchase most of our mobile apps when we just had a new iDevice; let's say ... for Christmas http://t.co/TShaAjvC1m
— Axel Guilmin (@AxelGuilmin) January 8, 2015
Some saw Apple's announcement as an attempt to shift attention from the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where it was noticeably absent but competitors such as Samsung and LG held keynotes. Others weren't so sure.
Did Apple steal some thunder from CES that it never really had? Yes, but this @TechCrunch post is cringe worthy: http://t.co/ZZzR8BW3OS
— David Bisset (@dimensionmedia) January 8, 2015
And even though iOS developers are probably aware of Apple's dominance in the mobile space, a few sounded surprised at the level of momentum the company has sustained.
Apple has now paid out to iOS devs: $25bn - all time $10bn - 2014 $0.5bn - 2015 week 1 #gulp #growingfast http://t.co/iaggeNkDft
— Fonix (@hellofonix) January 8, 2015