40 billion apps downloaded from App Store – almost 20 billion in 2012

Apple announced today that the App Store has had over 40 billion downloads since launching and that nearly half of those came in 2012 alone. This comes on the heals of an up and down year for Apple that is still operating in the shadows of its deceased co-founder Steve Jobs.

“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”

With the market cornered for iOS apps, it’s the type of closed garden that should last indefinitely. They keep strict controls over what can be found in the store and are more often accused of censorship than overabundance, but with plenty of apps from which to choose, very few outside of developers are worried. Expect even more downloads in 2013 than 2012.