Apple has just announced that during the two week holiday season people spent over $1.1 billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. This not only includes paid apps and games, but also e-books and audiobooks. Christmas Day and News Years Day both set single-day records, with customers spending over $144 million on January 1, 2016 alone.
Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said App Store sales topped $20 billion in 2015:
“The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’re grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can’t wait for what’s to come in 2016.”
The two week holiday period is when online companies tend to make the most money. Every year Amazon reports a year on year increase in e-book sales, and Apple is no different. One of the driving forces behind Apples latest record is not only due to people getting new iPhone’s and iPad’s but also the new Apple TV and the iWatch.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.