Apple has announced that customers spent $1.42 billion on its App Store in the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
According to Apple, the $1.42 billion spent by customers on the App Store during this week, represents a 16% increase during the same period in 2018.
Apple stated that on New Year's Day alone, it posted a single-day sales record of $386 million for apps, which is a 20% annual increase. According to the company statement, app developers have earned over $155 billion since the App Store opened in 2008.
The most downloaded free apps for iPhone users were YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Facebook Messenger. Meanwhile, the top performer for paid apps was Facetune, a photo editing app for iOS or Android phones, followed by employee scheduling app HotSchedules and the DarkSky weather forecast app.
Gamers also downloaded free games from the App Store, of which "Mario Kart Tour," "Call of Duty: Mobile" and "Fortnite" came on top while for paid mobile games, "Minecraft," "Color Bump 3D" and "Stardew Valley" were among the most purchased.
According to data tracker Sensor Tower, there is an emerging trend of people spending large amounts of money on apps and app developers creating new ways to target them. In 2019, Apple's App Store increased its sales by 16.3% to reach $54.2 billion while Google Play sales had an 18.1% increase, with $29.3 billion.
Randy Nelson, head of mobile insights at Sensor Tower, said: "Consumers are spending more in general in apps. More apps are discovering the ability to monetize more effectively, which is bolstering the stores' bottom lines."
Moreover, Apple is placing its focus more on services. In 2019, it launched a gaming subscription service called Apple Arcade, a news offering called Apple News+, its own Apple+ TV video streaming service and even expanded its financial services offerings via its Apple-branded credit card.
