With a press release published this morning, Apple formally announced the 50 billion app download milestone they hit yesterday, alongside the name of the $10,000 App Store gift card winner and 50 billionth app download. The 50 billionth app was Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio.
Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.
In the press release, Apple quotes various developers, such as Shazam’s CEO, on the importance of the App Store and its evolution in the past five years.
The iOS App Store opened on July 10, 2008. After 1770 days, 50 billion app downloads make an average of over 28 million apps downloaded each day (28.2 million). Today, the App Store offers more than 850,000 apps (350,000 made for the iPad) in 155 countries, organized in 23 categories that span Productivity, Games, Newspapers, and more.
For the 50 billion app download contest, Apple has also offered a $500 gift card to each of the 50 people who downloaded an app after the 50 billion milestone.
