Apple has announced that between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, customers spent over $1.22bn in the App Store, ending a record-breaking year. Apple customers also set a new single-day record on New Year’s Day, with App Store purchases grossing $322m worldwide, up $22m from last year. According to the company, sales from the App Store, Apple Music, Cloud Services, Apple Pay and the App Store’s search ad business all broke records during the 2018 holiday quarter.  

“The App Store had a record-breaking holiday week and New Years Day. The holiday week was our biggest week ever with more than $1.22 billion spent on apps and games, and New Year’s Day set a new single-day record at more than $322 million,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

The two most popular categories for App Store downloads and subscriptions were gaming and self-care, stated Apple. Video games such as Fortnite and PUBG led the gaming download chart, followed by Brawl Stars, Asphalt 9, and Monster Strike. Apps focused on productivity, health and fitness, and education also reached a high number of downloads within the first few days of 2019, specifically 1Password, Sweat, and Luminosity. 

“Thanks to the inspiring work of our talented developers and the support of our incredible customers around the world, the App Store finished off an outstanding 2018 and kicked off 2019 with a bang,” said Schiller.