TL;DR: The pandemic has been bad for most businesses, but many tech companies have benefitted from consumers staying at home. One of these is Apple, which has just revealed its holiday sales figures for the App Store and how much developers have earned since its launch in 2008.
Apple writes that over the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, Apple Store customers spent $1.8 billion on digital goods and services, most of which went on games. Users also set a single-day spending record of over $540 million on New Year's Day.
The Cupertino giant notes how the most popular apps of the year reflected the ongoing pandemic, with those that keep people connected and entertained topping the list. Zoom and Disney+ were two of the most downloaded apps, along with games such as Among Us and Roblox.
Apple also notes that developers have earned over $200 billion since the App Store launched in 2008, up from $155 billion last year.
Apple writes that Apple Music had a record year, though the company never went into detail. It added that nearly 90 percent of listeners used features such as Listen Now, an all-new Search, personal radio stations, and Autoplay. Additionally, "engagement with Apple Music's industry-leading lyrics feature has doubled since 2020."
Apple Pay continues to expand with more than 90 percent of stores in the US, 85 percent of stores in the UK, and 99 percent of stores in Australia now accepting payments using the platform. Elsewhere, the Apple TV app is available on over 1 billion screens in 100 countries and regions; Apple Books now has 90+ million monthly active users, and over 140 games are available on Apple Arcade.