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Mac App Store Delivers 100 Million Downloads in First Year

Dec. 12, 2011 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows
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Apple announced this morning that its Mac App Store has delivered over 100 million application downloads since it opened in early January 2011. This store follows the model Apple previously established for its iOS-based App Store, and of course serves as inspiration for Microsoft's coming Windows Store.

Note that  some blogs are incorrectly reporting that Apple's Mac App Store has "sold" over 100 million apps, but that this figure is for  downloads only. Most of the apps downloaded from this store are free, not paid. Apple would explicitly state so if that wasn't the case.

Apple's first App Store debuted in 2008.

"In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry," says Apple senior VP Phil Schiller. "With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world."

For now. Microsoft's Windows Store will likely surpass the Mac App Store very quickly, just as Windows 7 has thoroughly dominated Mac OS X. Microsoft intends to ship a preview version of the Windows Store, with free apps only, in February 2012. The final version will ship with Windows 8 later in the year.

Still, Apple's move to provide Mac users with an iOS-like App Store is a great one. As I raved in Apple Gets It Right With Mac App Store back in January, the Mac App Store provides deep UI integration, liberal app licensing terms, nice app discovery, and other useful and desirable features. 

"The Mac App Store is an impressive step, and one that Microsoft should be adding to Windows before Windows 8," I wrote, not without some understanding that Microsoft was working on doing just that. "Kudos to Apple for leading the way, yet again. The Mac App Store looks great."

Apple later included the App Store in Mac OS X "Lion," the latest version of Mac OS X, which shipped in July. As I noted in my review of Mac OS X "Lion", "Windows needs something like this, and sooner rather than later ... This is app buying done right: Once you buy an app, you own it, and you can install it again anytime you want. Bravo."

While the Mac App Store is nicely designed, based as it is after all on a previously (far more) successful mobile app store, there are still some holes. The Mac App Store curiously does not utilize the new full screen apps mode that Apple included in Lion, and it's missing some key applications, including Adobe's professional apps (Photoshop CS5, Acrobat, and so on) and Microsoft Office. I'm curious to see whether Microsoft will be able to bring such powerful and expensive apps to its own online store.

Discuss this Article 9

yoshipod (not verified)
on Dec 12, 2011
"including Adobe's professional apps (Photoshop CS5, Acrobat, and so on) and Microsoft Office. I'm curious to see whether Microsoft will be able to bring such powerful and expensive apps to its own online store." It will be very interesting to see if MS puts Office and other major apps in the Apple Mac App Store, and conversely if Apple puts iTunes, Safari, and their apps in the MS Windows App Store. Apple does sell Office through their web store as a physical copy, so I wonder if its Apple or MS that is not putting Office in the Apple Mac App Store. I would be surprised if Apple allowed distribution of iTunes through another App store, as they like to control the entire experience. Time will tell!
glenn.gilbert@b...
on Dec 12, 2011
I must say that the App store is so convenient and, like the iPhone app store, it's massively reduced the price of applications for end users. I guess that's what competition does. For example, I needed a file/directory synchronisation utility after one I've been using for years stopped working with Lion. Rather than pay the incumbent developer another $40 just to get it working on an OS upgrade, I opened the App store, typed "file sync" into the search box and found 6 applications offering the same functionality all for less than $10. What's not to like. Unless you're a developer. Whatever the Microsoft version of the App store turns out like, I do hope it's as easy to use as the Apple one.
glenn.gilbert@b...
on Dec 12, 2011
I must say that the App store is so convenient and, like the iPhone app store, it's massively reduced the price of applications for end users. I guess that's what competition does. For example, I needed a file/directory synchronisation utility after one I've been using for years stopped working with Lion. Rather than pay the incumbent developer another $40 just to get it working on an OS upgrade, I opened the App store, typed "file sync" into the search box and found 6 applications offering the same functionality all for less than $10. What's not to like. Unless you're a developer. Whatever the Microsoft version of the App store turns out like, I do hope it's as easy to use as the Apple one.
rmansfield
on Dec 12, 2011
The reason there's not a fullscreen mode for the Mac App Store is because it's not designed to be an app that a user "stays" in. That is, you're not going to spend long amounts of time in it. This is the same reason there's not a fullscreen mode for the calculator or the Disk Utility. But there are fullscreen modes for other programs that one could feasibly spend hours using such as Aperture, Keynote, Safari and even iTunes.
ModernDislocation
on Dec 12, 2011
Paul, "Most of the apps downloaded from this store are free, not paid." Can you source this claim or is it just something you want to believe?
yoshipod (not verified)
on Dec 13, 2011
"Most of the apps downloaded from this store are free, not paid. Apple would explicitly state so if that wasn't the case." You mean like they did three years ago with the iOS App store? http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/09/09App-Store-Downloads-Top-100-Mi...
jagosilver
on Dec 14, 2011
Although, as Paul says, they don't offer a breakdown of paid vs free, this post does have a few more details on the 100 million figure: http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/12/12/mac-app-store-downloads-dont-inclu...
jagosilver
on Dec 14, 2011
Regarding Apple and Microsoft putting their software in eachother's stores... I can see that Apple might not have a problem putting iTunes (or Safari) in the Windows Store as they don't charge for it, where as MS would have to give Apple a 30% cut of whatever they charge for Office (and presumably it will be a LOT more than what Apple currently charge for iWork). I can't think of any Apple software that you pay for on Windows?
ModernDislocation
on Dec 15, 2011
@Jago - Filemaker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple and makes Windows products that are sold at a cost. So while not sold under the Apple brand it is software they sell for Windows users.

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