The end of apps? Hardly. Apple's App Store just hit $15bn sales

There’s been murmuring in tech circles about the end of apps.

About how having to dive into one application and out into another to manage your music / games / content / fart noises will soon become outdated, and all your content and interactive functions and life organisational tools will be merged into a seamless integrated experience on your phone.

But it doesn’t look like the public are losing interest in apps quite yet.

Apple has just announced that App Store billings increased by some 50% in 2014, making it a record-breaking year in which developers made $10bn from apps.

Reports are estimating that the $10bn going to developers translates to almost $15bn spent by customers in the App Store.

Apple’s own release, for the record, doesn’t detail total App Store sales nor how much it’s made as a company from the App Store.

But the FT writes that Apple will have made up to $5bn from app sales in 2014, based on the 30% cut it takes on app purchases.

Apple’s statement says that developers that have released products through App Store have made a cumulative $25bn since the platform launched.

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services.

“We’re so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.” 

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Great work: how Apple is helping the fight against AIDS

And here’s some nice news.

Apple has for some time run a tie-up with (RED), an initiative that sees brands selling products whose proceeds are dontated to the fight against AIDS.

App Store customers have been purchasing exclusive content as part of the (RED) initiative.

That’s meant that this quarter Apple and its customers have donated $20m to the cause, taking its total donations to the fights against AIDS to more than $100m.

Find out more about (RED) and how you can help fight AIDS