App Store sets new records as holiday spending tops $890M

It'd be fair to say the App Store had a fairly decent holiday season, with a record number of users spending over $890 million during the week beginning Christmas Eve.

As you'd imagine, the festive period is usually pretty lucrative for Apple's mobile marketplace, but this year was a particular standout.

The Cupertino giant claims that a record-breaking $300 million worth of purchases were made on New Year's Day alone.

Pokemon Go was one of the most successful apps over the holidays, with the augmented reality catch-em-up returning to the top of the charts on December 21. 

"We are thrilled with the reaction to the new App Store and to see so many customers discovering and enjoying new apps and games," said Phil Schiller, Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing. 

"We want to thank all of the creative app developers who have made these great apps and helped to change people's lives. In 2017 alone, iOS developers earned $26.5 billion -- more than a 30 percent increase over 2016."