Pokémon Go and no sign of stopping: Apple’s App Store sales boom

Purchases on its software platform made $8.6bn for the company last year, even as demand for the iPhone showed signs of easing

When Apple launched its App Store eight years ago with a selection of just 500 applications for iPhone users, not many of the company's famously bullish executives could have expected that it would grow into an earnings juggernaut. The iPhone and iPod were overwhelming successes and the iPad was just around the corner: apps seemed like an offshoot.

But last year, Apple's app business made almost $30bn (24bn) as the Poki(C)mon Go phenomenon drove purchases, taking total store sales to $85bn since 2008. This week's latest quarterly results will confirm its importance to the tech group, with iPhone sales losing steam and the group's services unit - home to the app store and iTunes - becoming increasingly important to Apple.