Apple sets new App Store record with $1.1 billion in sales during the holidays

With all of the new iPhones and iPads sitting under Christmas trees, the holidays are an important time for the App Store. And today Apple announced that this past holiday season was the biggest for the digital store yet: over the two weeks ending on January 3rd, customers spent a record $1.1 billion on apps, as well as in-app purchases.

That includes the biggest single day in the App Store’s history, with $144 million in sales on January 1st — the previous biggest day was December 25th, just a few days earlier. In total 2015 saw the App Store take in over $20 billion, according to Apple, a sizable increase from the estimated $15 billion in sales from 2014. That means Apple took in around $6 billion in revenue for itself. Unsurprisingly, the biggest contributors included games like Minecraft and Clash of Clans, as well as subscription-based apps like Netflix and Hulu.

This is obviously good news for Apple, which earns 30 cents for every $1 spent in the App Store, but the company is also quick to point out how its online marketplace benefits developers. According to Apple, the company has paid out close to $40 billion to developers since the App Store launched in 2008, and also created numerous jobs. The company says that it is “responsible for creating and supporting 1.9 million jobs in the US alone,” 75 percent of which are a direct result of the iOS ecosystem, including gigs like app developers, software engineers, and others.