Apple Sees Record $1.1B In App Store Sales Over Holiday Period

The holiday season is usually a big time for tech and gadget companies each year, but with smartphones ever becoming the most important device in our lives, app marketplaces are also seeing big customer turnouts. The iOS App Store is one such example, with Apple revealing that the close of 2015 was the "biggest ever" holiday season for the digital store, with users spending a record $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases over the two weeks ending January 3rd.

Apple says that a new single-day record for App Store sales was set on Christmas Day, only for it to be broken a week later, with New Year's Day 2016 seeing customers spend over $144 million.

In addition, a few stats about the App Store's growth over the years were shared, including that nearly $40 billion has been paid to app developers since the store launched in 2008, with more than one-third generated in just 2015. Also impressive is that the iOS app economy has been responsible for the creation of 1.4 million jobs in the US.

Apple notes that 2015 saw the launch of two additional App Stores, one for the Apple Watch and one for the new Apple TV, while Senior VP of Marketing Philip Schiller shared the following comment about looking forward to continued growth in 2016:

"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. 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."