Apple’s App Store turns 10: Evolution from 500 apps to 500 mln weekly visitors

Customers in 155 countries are visiting App Store more often, staying longer and downloading and using more apps than ever before, the Cupertino-based iPhone giant has said. App Store, that will turn 10 on July 10, now sees 500 million weekly visitors and hundreds of stories on the "Today" tab that have been read by more than 1 million people.

"When Apple introduced the App Store on July 10, 2008 with 500 apps, it ignited a cultural, social and economic phenomenon that changed how people work, play, meet, travel and so much more," Apple said in a statement on Friday.

With the introduction of in-app purchase (IAP) in 2009, customers could download an app and then pay to unlock different levels and functionality. By June 2010, $1 billion were paid out to developers from IAP and paid apps.

Subscriptions are up 95% from 2017, and as of June 2018, developers have earned over $100 billion from the App Store, the company informed.

"In its first decade, the App Store has surpassed all of our wildest expectations. We could not be more proud of what developers have created and what the next 10 years have in store," said Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Apple.

According to Marco Arment, a long-time iOS developer, App Store has been by far the easiest way for developers to reach the most people with his apps.

"It eliminated the friction and overhead of setting up our own distribution and payment systems, making development far more accessible to everyone and letting us focus on our true passion: making the best apps we can," he said.

Later, start-ups including Instagram, Calm, Uber and Instacart embraced features like the iPhone camera, Apple Pay, GPS and Location Services to deliver on-demand and personalised experiences -- with many creating billion-dollar businesses that started with apps in the App Store.

"At the same time, both traditional companies and those that started as websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, eBay, Yelp, Airbnb and Amazon, began building apps to meet changing customer behaviour," Apple said.

The App Store brought gaming mainstream owing to the Multi-Touch technology on iPhone and iPad and the convenience of playing on the go.

"We are very happy that we are able to deliver Super Mario Run, a new Super Mario experience that could be played with just one hand on iPhone, to hundreds of millions of consumers because of the App Store," noted Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow, Nintendo.

The App Store has also been the epicentre of a mobile video consumption boom.

"Services including HBO NOW, Hulu, Netflix and Sling TV and the abundance of quality shows allow customers to enjoy the entertainment they love when and where they choose," Apple said.