Apple announced early Tuesday that its App Store had a record-breaking year, with customers spending over $10 billion on apps and subscriptions in 2013, including more than $1 billion across three billion apps during the month of December alone. That makes December 2013 the “most successful month in App Store history” and brings total revenue paid to developers to $15 billion since the store’s launch in 2008.
Apple’s iTunes head Eddy Cue, via the press release:
We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store. The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.
Apple attributes much of the App Store’s recent success to iOS 7, which gave developers hundreds of new APIs with which to offer users new and improved experiences. The company also called out many hit apps by name, including Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up, ProtoGeo’s Moves, and the Candy Crush Saga.
The iOS App Store first launched on July 9, 2008 and is now available in over 155 countries.