Users have downloaded more than 60 million programs since last month's launch of the iPhone App Store, CEO Steve Jobs announced on Monday, adding that if sales maintain their current pace, Apple will
generate at least $360 million a year in new revenue. In other words, Apple is making about $1 million a day from the App Store. "This thing's going to crest a half a billion, soon," Jobs told The
Wall Street Journal. "Who knows, maybe it will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time. I've never seen anything like this in my career for software."
Nonetheless, the Journal
points out that Apple isn't likely to generate much direct profit from the business, as the company only keeps 30% of the proceeds from sales, which is about enough to cover the expenses of running
the store. Of the $30 million in sales in the first month, Jobs said developers' share was roughly $21 million, with $9 million going to the top 10 developers.
Instead, the Apple CEO is
betting that applications sell more iPhones and iPod touch devices. "Phone differentiation used to be about radios and antennas and things like that," Jobs said. "We think, going forward, the phone of
the future will be differentiated by software."
Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »