Apple’s App Store makes a Record $10 Billion in 2013!

Apple has just announced via a press release this morning that customers have spent north of $10 billion in the App Store in 2013, including over an astounding $1 billion in sales in December alone.

It was the best year for the App Store business thus far. The more than $10 billion in 2013 revenue should be music to developers’ ears as Apple’s platform continues to lead in terms of user engagement, stickiness, profitability and other metrics that matter.

And how much money did Apple pay to its “incredible developers,” as the company put it, since the App Store’s inception nearly seven years ago? Fifteen billion dollars (not a typo) – and that’s after its customary 30 percent cut!

The company said developers really took advantage of the new iOS 7 APIs to overhaul their apps and mentioned successful App Store developers such as Evernote, Yahoo, Pinterest and a few others. The company also cast spotlight on some surprise 2013 hits such as Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up and hit games from international developers like Clumsy Ninjaand Candy Crush Saga, which reached half a billion downloads in just a year…

The press release is right below.

CUPERTINO, California―January 7, 2014―Apple today announced that customers spent over $10 billion on the App Store in 2013, including over $1 billion in December alone. App Store customers downloaded almost three billion apps in December making it the most successful month in App Store history. Apple’s incredible developers have now earned $15 billion on the App Store.

“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 lineup of apps for the holiday season was astonishing and we look forward to seeing what developers create in 2014.”

With the introduction of iOS 7, developers were able to create stunning apps that took advantage of the redesigned user interface and the more than 200 new features and APIs.

Developers such as Evernote, Yahoo!, AirBnB, OpenTable, Tumblr, Pinterest and American Airlines re-imagined the user experience, bringing content to the forefront while increasing the overall efficiency and performance of their apps.

2013 saw surprise hits like Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up, ProtoGeo’s Moves, Simon Filip’s Afterlight and Kevin Ng’s Impossible Road. Many of the year’s biggest successes like Candy Crush Saga, Puzzles & Dragons, Minecraft, QuizUp and Clumsy Ninja were created by international developers, while Duolingo (United States), Simogo (Sweden), Frogmind (UK), Plain Vanilla Corp (Iceland), Atypical Games (Romania), Lemonista (China), BASE (Japan) and Savage Interactive (Australia) emerged as developers to watch in 2014.

Apple’s mobile application store is now home to over a million apps for iOS devices, half of which specifically tailored to the iPad’s bigger screen. Having opened for business nearly seven years ago, the App Store now operates in 155 countries around the world.

Despite this milestone – $10 billions in app revenue in twelve months translates to about $900 million in average monthly revenue – I’m pretty sure someone, somewhere is figuring out a way to spin this into another “Apple is doomed” story.

Microsoft, for example, made a big fuss of the fact that Windows Phone now outsells the iPhone in 24 countries, according to TechRadar.

But what Microsoft’s director of communications Christopher Flores ”forgot” to mention was these were emerging markets in the sub-$400 category. Apple’s iPhone does not compete at all in that price range because the company does not have an off-contract handset priced bellow $400.

Also, Apple’s release pretty much puts analyst Gene Munster to shame, who last night wrote in a note to clients that “apps are no longer a point of differentiation” for Apple because “the app ecosystem has transitioned to where it no longer matters how many apps each OS has, but rather the satisfaction the user gets out of them”.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that Apple users have been consistently more satisfied with the polish and quality of iOS apps compared to their Android counterparts.

Besides, wasn’t what Munster said always the case? Quality over quantity?

It doesn’t mattered how many apps these stores have as most folks just need a few dozen most commonly used apps, anyway.

Source: IDB

Samsung’s smartphone sales push profits to record levels!

For some time, the mobile phone industry has been shifting toward more powerful smartphones and away from basic mobile phones. Now comes word that smartphones outnumber feature phones for the first time. The line was crossed in the first quarter of 2013 with 216.1 million smartphones shipping, accounting for 51.6 percent of all handsets sold. Smartphone shipments grew 41.6 percent during the quarter, up from 152.7 million units shipped during the same period in 2012, one industry research firm announced Thursday…

IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo said that “the days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away.”

And as a result of the shifting consumer demand, “the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are more dependent on smartphones,” Restivo adds. Indeed, we recently wrote how app usage is equal to the number of online laptop and desktops.

As if to make the point, Samsung held on to the top spot among smartphone makers, its Galaxy handset helping the South Korean firm ship more units than the next four companies combined, according to IDC.

The firm had 27.6 percent of the mobile phone market, up from 23.3 percent during the first three months of 2012. The 22.9 percent year-over-year gain was fueled by 115 million units shipped during the first quarter, an increase from 93.6 million handsets shipped during the first quarter of 2012.

Here’s Samsung Galaxy S4 television commercial from earlier this morning.

Apple retains its No. 2 spot for global mobile phone makers, the iPhone 5 helping the company register its first single-digit year-over-year growth since the third quarter of 2009, the researcher said.

Apple has held onto the second place position for the previous five quarters. According to IDC, Apple’s smartphone mix is “increasingly diversified as it tries to reach new buyers.”

However, the last time the iPhone maker posted a single-digit year-over-year growth rate was 3Q09. The iPhone maker has held the second spot in the smartphone rankings for the past five quarters

To emphasize the changing guard, Nokia – once a mobile phone titan – continues to shed market share. The company fell to second place in overall mobile phone shipments, dropping to second behind Samsung.

At the end of the first quarter, the Finnish firm had 14.8 percent of the mobile handset market, down from 20.6 percent a year ago. Shipments also fell to 61.9 million, down from 82.7 million during the first quarter of 2012, IDC announced.

LG, which had fallen off the list of the top 5 smartphone makers, has returned in fourth place. The 12.4 percent increase of last year is credited to LG’s L series and Nexus 4.

The momentum has shifted to a number of China-based firms, which has used Google’s Android software to attract smartphone buyers.

Among China’s new players: Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad and Lenova, Restivo claimed.

Foxconn starts hiring assembly-line workers for Apple’s next iPhone production

Hon Hai Precision Industry aka Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple and many other products on behalf of other vendors, has started hiring workers in preparation for Apple’s next iPhone, Bloomberg reported Monday.

A person familiar with the matter tells the publication that the world’s largest contract manufacturer has been recruiting workers for the past month at its plant in Zhengzhou, eastern China.

The report comes after a number of news organizations reported that Foxconn back in February imposed arecruitment freeze across almost all of its factories in China amid slowing iPhone production…

According to Bloomberg:

Foxconn recommenced hiring at Zhengzhou a month ago, with the facility currently employing about 250,000 to 300,000 people, Liu Kun, a spokesman for the Taipei-based company, said by phone today without saying how many employees were added. He declined to comment on products or clients.

The Wall Street Journal corroborated the Bloomberg report, adding Monday that aFoxconn has hired 10,000 workers a week since the end of March.

“We have been very busy recently as we will start mass-producing the new iPhone soon,” said a Zhengzhou-based executive who has direct knowledge of production plans.

Both reports point to Apple gearing up for production of the new iPhone, with the Journal expecting the the iPhone 5S production to begin in the second quarter of the year, possibly alongside a rumored budget model of the handset meant at improving Apple’s market standing in emerging markets.

Apple posts record breaking financial results for Q1 2013 and Shares fall nearly 10%!

Shares of Apple  tumbled sharply in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company reported quarterly iPhone sales that just missed Wall Street estimates.

Revenue of $54.5 billion was up 18% from a year earlier but also about $230 million less than expected. Earnings of $13.81 a share were down 6 cents from a year earlier but ahead of the Street estimate of $13.44.

The company said it sold 47 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter, up 29% from a year earlier but down slightly from Street estimates of sales of 48 million units and hopes for sales of 50 million units.

Shares were down $50.52, or 9.8%, to $463.49 at the end of after-hours trading; it had traded as low as $457.30. It will weigh on markets on Thursday. Apple hasn’t closed below $460 since Feb. 3, 2012. The stock had closed at $514.17, up $9.40, in regular trading.

With Wednesday’s close, the shares were down 26.7% from their closing high of $702.10 in September. Some analysts see the stock headed sharply lower. Jeff Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital told CNBC that the shares could hit $425.

The big question in the report was iPhone sales, which accounted for 56% of total revenue. Reports had suggested sales had not been as robust as expected, perhaps as few as 44 million sold.

Sales were better than that. In fact, those 47.8 million units sold were a record. Traders, however, had hoped for more.

There were questions about whether Apple could get the phones produced fast enough. In addition, there were worries that the smartphone market was getting saturated, thanks to new devices hitting markets worldwide. Samsung has emerged as an intense competitor.

At the same time, Apple said it sold 22.9 million iPad tablets, up nearly 48.7% from a year earlier and 34% from the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in September. But iPad Mini sales could have been much stronger except for problems getting them produced.

Meanwhile, sales of Macintosh computers were down 21.1% from a year earlier. Manufacturing constraints and cannibalization of sales by the iPad kept sales down, CEO Tim Cook said on the company’s conference call.

The iPad has also hurt sales of low-end computers that use the Microsoft  Windows operating system. Microsoft, the publisher of MSN Money, reports results after Thursday’s close.

Sales of iPod music players were off 17.5%.

Apple expects $41 billion to $43 billion in revenue in the fiscal second quarter and a gross margin of 37.5% to 38.5%. The margin, a key profitability measure, was 38.6% in the first quarter.

Apple’s board declared a cash dividend of $2.65 a share payable Feb. 14 to shareholders of record on Feb. 11. The dividend rate was unchanged.

The earnings came after what had been a decent day for stocks. The Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index  closed at five-year highs. The Dow was up 67 points to 13,779, its best finish since Oct. 18, 2007. The S&P 500, up 2 points to 1,495, had its best close since Nov. 6, 2007.

The World’s 25 Highest-Paid Musicians 2012

With a whopping $110 million in pretax earnings, Dr. Dre is this year’s top-earning musician—thanks largely to his Beats headphone line. He leads a pack of pop stars, rock icons, rap moguls and country crooners, many of whom bank the bulk of their bucks outside the recording studio. Totals are calculated from May 2011 through May 2012.

1. Dr. Dre ($110 million)

His long-awaited album, Detox, is still on the shelf, but Dre still rakes in cash from old albums, production and the occasional concert. And then there’s that headphone line. The superproducer collected $100 million pretax when handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51% stake in the company last year, at the beginning of our scoring period (earlier this year, he and his partners bought back half of what they sold).

2. Roger Waters ($88 million)

A founding member of Pink Floyd, Waters continues to rake in cash from his The Wall Live tour, in which he plays the aforementioned album straight through. According to Billboard Boxscore, he grossed $131 million from November 2011 to May 2012 alone.

3. Elton John ($80 million)

The Rocketman is still going strong with over 100 shows in our scoring period, including a lengthy Las Vegas stint. His animated film Gnomeo and Juliet brought in $200 million at the box office. He’s also got his 30th solo album on the way.

4. U2 ($78 million)

The legendary Irish rockers wrapped up their record-breaking 360 tour—which grossed $736 million over three year—in August of 2011, just late enough to count a summer of touring in our scoring period.

5. Take That ($69 million)

The British boy band’s reunion tour grossed a record $61 million for eight dates at London’s Wembley Stadium alone, the highest-grossing single-stadium stand recorded to that point, while dozens of dates around Europe provided even more.

6. Bon Jovi ($60 million)

The veteran New Jersey rock act wrapped a world tour last summer but still managed to out-earn relative whippersnappers Kim Kardashian, Lil Wayne and Kate Moss combined. Could a breakup be on the horizon? Frontman Jon Bon Jovi has been spotted duetting with Warren Buffett in the Forbes building.

7. Britney Spears ($58 million)

The pop diva returns to the ranks of music’s elite earners with millions from endorsements and a fragrance line with Elizabeth Arden. Her latest album, Femme Fatale, earned platinum certification in the U.S.

8. Paul McCartney ($57 million, tie)

Sir Paul continues to rock, playing three dozen shows during our scoring period, including a rollicking Grammy performance that included a finale with Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen. Royalty checks from his Beatles days don’t hurt, either.

8. Taylor Swift ($57 million, tie)

Swift grossed over $1 million per night on the road this year, and also earns big as one of the faces of CoverGirl. Her latest album, Red, moved 1.2 million units its opening week this fall, the best debut since 2002.

10. Justin Bieber ($55 million, tie)

The 18-year-old is the youngest name on our list, thanks to sales of music and merchandise—and, more recently, stakes in startups including Tinychat, Stamped and Spotify.

10. Toby Keith ($55 million, tie)

With his Ford sponsorship entering its second decade and his I Love This Bar And Grill restaurant chain booming, Keith tops country earners for the second consecutive year. New album Clancy’s Tavern helped him sell out shows across the country.

12. Rihanna ($53 million)

The Barbados-born diva has parlayed the success of her music into lucrative sidelines: endorsements with the likes of Vita Coco and Nivea, a fragrance called Reb’l Fleur and a heavy touring schedule, to name a few.

13. Lady Gaga ($52 million)

The singer-songwriter still makes plenty of money off of music sales, padding her coffers with a new tour and new fragrance Fame.

14. Foo Fighters ($47 million)

Fifteen years after their debut smash The Colour and the Shape, the Foos are still rocking, most recently with last year’s Wasting Light and the ensuing tour.

15. Diddy ($45 million, tie)

The artist formerly known as Puff Daddy still continues to earn from a variety of non-musical deals—namely a share of profits from Diageo’s Ciroc vodka—as well as acting gigs, marketing firm Blue Flame and clothing line Sean John.

15. Katy Perry ($45 million, tie)

The only musician besides Michael Jackson to have five No. 1 singles from the same album, Perry continues to garner considerable airplay—and dollars. Her California Dreams Tour grossed nearly $60 million.

17. Kenny Chesney ($44 million)

Though he didn’t get paid for his Thanksgiving gig in Dallas, Chesney nearly doubled his touring take over last year, making 48 stops in the U.S. and Canada on his Corona- and Hooters-sponsored tour during our scoring period.

18. Beyoncé ($40 million)

After giving birth to baby Blue Ivy in January, Beyoncé took a break from her hectic touring schedule. But she still earns big from old hits, new album 4 and non-musical ventures like her House of Dereon clothing line and endorsement deals with companies like L’Oreal and DirecTV.

19. Red Hot Chili Peppers ($39 million)

Opening week sales of the group’s new album I’m with You were just half that of 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, but the Chili Peppers still managed a massive year financially on the strength of a big tour and continued interest in their extensive back catalogue.

20. Jay-Z ($38 million)

Though he doesn’t earn quite as much as his wife, Jay-Z continues to pull in proceeds from music (touring in support of his album with Kanye West) and business (deals with Duracell, Budweiser and others). For more on his financial dealings, check out Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office.

21. Coldplay ($37 million)

The British pop-rockers returned to the spotlight with last year’s Mylo Xyloto, cashing in from over 50 concerts on the tour that followed.

22. Adele ($35 million, tie)

The big-voiced Brit has sold over 23 million copies of her smash album 21, even more amazing in an era when selling 500,000 copies is a strong showing.

22. Kanye West ($35 million, tie)

The mercurial rapper-producer had a big hit with his Jay-Z collaboration Watch the Throne and the ensuing tour; he also designs shoes for Nike and a line of women’s clothing

24. Michael Bublé ($34 million)

The top-earning Canadian musician not named Bieber pulled in millions from a long but efficient tour, as well as a multiplatinum Christmas album titled—what else—Christmas.

25. Sade ($33 million)

The reclusive Nigerian-born, Britain-bred singer-songwriter squeaks onto our list thanks to a lucrative tour that included nearly 100 show dates in our scoring period.

{ Forbes }