Apple scores $10 billion in App Store sales for 2013

iOS device users spent more than $1 billion in December alone.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer

Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

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Lance Whitney

Jan. 7, 2014 5:53 a.m. PT

Apple took home more than $10 billion last year from mobile app sales.

Announcing the news on Tuesday, Apple said that more than $1 billion was generated in December alone. During that time, customers downloaded almost 3 billion apps, making December Apple's most lucrative month since the App Store opened for business.

Developers also have shared in Apple's fortunes, earning a collective $15 billion to date from App Store sales, the company added.

"We'd like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said in a statement. "The lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing, and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014."

Apple credited the launch of iOS 7 for spurring developers to cook up apps and take advantage of the new interface. In particular, the company pointed to such redesigned apps as Evernote, Yahoo, Airbnb, OpenTable, Tumblr, Pinterest, and American Airlines. Apple also touted some "surprise hits" in 2013, including Ellen DeGeneres' Heads Up, ProtoGeo's Moves, Simon Filip's Afterlight, and Kevin Ng's Impossible Road.

The App Store is home to more than 1 million apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.