The App Store rang in 2017 by smashing sales records
On New Year's Day, celebrating 2017 gave way to staring at iPhone and iPad screens as the App Store posted the single biggest sales day in its almost nine-year history. Customers tapped out $240 million in purchases on Jan. 1.
Apple touted that stat and more of its latest App Store numbers in a release today, revealing that 2016 was a big year for its developers and that Super Mario Run, flawed as it may be, was a holiday download juggernaut.
According to Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, the App Store made over $20 billion for developers in 2016, a 40 percent increase over last year. Since its 2008 inception, the App store has netted developers over $60 billion.
Internationally, Apple says the App store fared well across the board, but especially in, where in 2016 it posted a record 90 percent year-over-year growth rate.
In December, App Store purchases soared over a record $3 billion, a pace largely set by Super Mario Run, which had a new standard-setting 40 million downloads in just our days following its Dec. 15 release. Mario's mobile debut was also the most downloaded app on both Christmas and New Year's Day.
The number one app of 2016 wasn't a surprise: Pokémon Go took the crown, with Mario settling somewhere in the top 10.
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
