Apple announced on July 7 that more than 15 billion applications for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch have been downloaded from its App Store. The California gadget-maker also said the App Store now carries more than 425,000 free and paid applications for the 200 million iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches in use world-wide.
Over 100,000 applications have been developed for the iPad alone, it said. "In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen," Apple senior vice president Philip Schiller said in a statement.
Apple said it has paid applications developers over $2.5 billion to date. Apple, which launched its App Store in July 2008, is currently embroiled in a dispute with online retail giant Amazon over the phrase "app store." Amazon offers programs for smartphones and tablet computers powered by Google's Android operating system in its "Amazon Appstore for Android" and Apple is seeking to bar the company from calling it an "app store."