Apple's App Store Hits New Holiday Week Record, Garnered Over $322 Million New Year's Day Alone

Apple on Thursday announced that App Store spending between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve topped $1.22 billion (roughly Rs. 8,500 crores). Customers also spent over $322 million (roughly Rs. 2,250 crores) on New Year's Day alone and broke a new single-day record. Notably, the announcement comes as an aftermath of the disquieting revenue forecast that highlighted a decline in iPhone sales and slowdowns in China. Contrasting the new records, Apple last year revealed that customers spent $890 million (roughly Rs. 6,200 crores) during the week of Christmas Eve with $300 (roughly Rs. 2,100 crores) spent solely on New Year's Day 2018.

Among other categories, Apple said that gaming and self-care were the most popular categories of app downloads and subscriptions during the holidays. Fortnite and PUBG importantly emerged among the top downloaded games over the seven-day period, along with Brawl Stars, Asphalt 9, and Monster Strike. Apps including 1Password, Sweat, and Luminosity are also claimed to have attracted a large number of iOS users in the early days of 2019.

"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 Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Apple, in a press statement.

The release of the new figures isn't surprising as Apple generally reveals a new App Store holiday report in the first week of January. But the new record might be taken in wake of the recent cut in Apple's revenue forecast, majorly attributed to weaker-than-anticipated iPhone sales. Also, Apple CEO Tim Cook in a memo to its employees and a separate letter to its investors indicated a growth from App Store by foreseeing a record revenue from the Services business.

Apple on Wednesday slashed its revenue guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2019, ended December 29, to $84 billion (roughly Rs. 590,000 crores) - significantly lower than analyst forecasts averaging $91 billion (roughly Rs. 640,000 crores). However, the company said to its investors that its Services business generated more than $10.8 billion (roughly Rs. 755,000 crores) in revenue during the quarter.

App analytics firm Sensor Tower, as an antecedent to Apple's latest report, last week reported that the US App Store hit the milestone of $54 million (roughly Rs. 377 crores) on the Christmas Day. This represented a 31 percent year-over-year increase in spending compared to the 2017 Christmas Day record of $41.3 million (roughly Rs. 289 crores) spending on the App Store.