iPhone, iPad and Mac users spent more than US$10bn on Apple’s App Store during 2013, including US$1bn in December alone.
The tech giant revealed it paid out US$15bn to developers in the history of the App Store, which opened in the summer of 2008. Apple takes a 30pc cut from all apps sold.
There are now more than 1m apps in the App Store, including 500,000 native iPad apps.
Towards the end of 2013, developers were able to make use of more than 200 new features and APIs through the arrival of iOS 7.
Surprise hits during 2013 included Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up, ProtoGeo’s Moves, Simon Filip’s Afterlight and Kevin Ng’s Impossible Road.
Other successes included Candy Crush Saga, Puzzles & Dragons, Minecraft, QuzyUp and Clumsy Ninja.
“We’d like to thank our customers for making 2013 the best year ever for the App Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice-president of Internet Software and Services.
“The line-up of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014,” Cue added.
Apps image via Shutterstock