Apple has confirmed that App Store customers set new spending records over the holidays, with late-year purchases helping to cap off an already record-breaking year and 2019 beginning with a new single-day record.
Apple reported on Wednesday that App Store sales topped $1.22 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The company also noted that on New Year’s Day 2019 alone, consumers spent more than $322 million on apps and games worldwide.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, stated that the App Store had a record-breaking holiday week and New Year’s Day. “Thanks to the awe-inspiring work of our talented developers and the incredible support of our customers around the globe, the App Store closed out 2018 with a bang and launched 2019 with a bang.”
As indicated in the company’s most recent financial guidance alert, the high App Store sales helped propel Services revenue to an all-time quarterly high. New benchmarks have reportedly been set for Apple Music, Cloud Services, Apple Pay, and the App Store’s search ad business, in addition to the App Store’s revenue from App Store sales.
The most popular categories of app downloads and subscriptions during the holiday season were gaming and self-care, with Fortnite, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, Brawl Stars, Asphalt 9, and Monster Strike among the most downloaded games.
Productivity, Health & Fitness, and Education apps also performed well at the beginning of the year, as users attempted to make positive changes in their personal lives, with 1Password, Sweat, and Luminosity among the most popular apps in each category.
