SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Apple and thousands of mobile software developers are feasting on people’s ravenous app-etite for apps.
Users of iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches spent nearly $500 million on applications and in-app services during the first week of the year, according to figures released Thursday. That’s the highest weekly volume recorded by Apple Inc. since the Cupertino, California, company opened its App Store seven years ago and revolutionized the way people connect with online services and play games.
If sales continue at the same opening-week pace, Apple and the makers of the apps would split up about $25 billion in revenue. Apple’s revenue-sharing formula calls for 70 percent of app sales to be paid to the developers with the rest kept by the company.
This year’s fast start came after Apple’s app billings surged by 50 percent in 2014, according to Thursday’s breakdown. The increase produced more than $10 billion for app developers. That implies Apple reaped somewhere from $4 billion to $5 billion in revenue from its App Store last year, based on the company’s 30 percent commission. Apple didn’t disclose how much it made from the App Store last year.
Most analysts expect the App Store will contribute a bigger piece of Apple’s future profits as people become more dependent on their mobile devices, encouraging developers to create even more services tailored for the gadgets. The latest version of Apple’s mobile software, iOS 8, already is fueling demand with new categories for home and health management, as well as the opportunity to install alternatives to Apple’s built-in keyboard for the first time.