The 2013 sales for Apple's App Store reached over $10 billion, the Financial Times reported. This represented roughly as much as it generated in the past four years combined and concretized Apple's lead over Google in the mobile computing market. The technology giant also said that it had paid $15 billion to developers since the App Store was launched in 2008. Last year, developers were able to earn $7 billion from the App Store by this time, attesting that there was an increase in sales in the past 12 months, the report said. Apple retains 30% of app sales as well as of in-app purchases, which have become the primary method for developers to charge for their mobile software services.
UK-based mobile analyst Benedict Evans told FT, "For all that people argue about whether apps are the future, they're growing very fast - people like downloading them."
Meanwhile, Google does not revealed the revenues generated from the apps sold through its Play store but has recently outperformed Apple as far as the number of downloaded apps are concerned. More mobile developers are now paying attention to the Play store because of the rising sales of Android phones and increasing number of downloads from the search giant's service.
Citing analysts, the report said that if Apple lost its lead in the mobile platform with in demand games and other applications, it would also potentially lose one of the important advantages it has over Android. However, iPhone and iPad users are estimated to fork out more money on the App Store than Android users, prompting most developers to keep their attention focused on the iOS. Research firm Distimo revealed that as of November, the App Store accounted for 63% of spending in apps as opposed to only 37% in Google's Play Store, the report said.
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