2014 has been a record-breaking year for iOS apps. Apple recently revealed that the total billings at the App Store has grown by 50 percent compared to 2013's billings. In 2013, App Store total yearly sales tallied at more than $10 billion. But in 2014, the total billings has ballooned to around $15 billion.
Furthermore, Apple also disclosed that 2014's app sales provided more than $10 billion in revenue to iOS developers. To date, these developers have now earned a total of $25 billion.
Apple's record-breaking streak does not end there. During the first week of January 2015, users of Apple's iPhones, iPads, and iPods have spent almost half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. That is a new record for the App Store, the tech giant claimed.
Despite Apple's record-breaking numbers, Android still remains the dominant mobile operating system in the world. But it can not be denied that more and more developers are attracted to creating apps for the iOS platform because it appears that users of Apple mobile devices tend to spend more money on mobile apps and games.
Now, the App Store is not Apple's most important source of revenues, but it sure does play a solid role in bringing in revenues for the company. Remember that Apple gets $0.30 for every $1.00 spent in the App Store. So for the entire 2014, you can estimate Apple's total cut as somewhere near $4.5 billion.
So what factors contributed to App Store's record year and great start of 2015? First of all, the release of iOS 8, the latest version of the iOS mobile operating system, had plenty to do with everything. iOS came with Swift, a new programming language designed to be more user-friendly to mobile app developers. Also, iOS 8 also introduced HealthKit, which allowed lots of developers of health- and fitness-related apps to tie in their data with the new iOS Health app.
App Store also offered app previews to let users get a better idea of the apps for sale. On top of that, the introduction of App Bundles allowed users to save money by purchasing up to 10 apps at a lesser price.
And let us not forget the influence of Apple Pay, the mobile payment system developed and released by Apple in 2014. As installed in the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus and the latest iPads, Apple Pay allowed users to conveniently pay for apps and other content at the App Store and iTunes.
