Apple Reaches 40 Billion App Store Downloads

Apple on Monday morning announced that its App Store hit the 40 billion app download mark.

Even more impressive — half of those downloads were logged in 2012 alone, and the figure doesn't include app re-downloads or updates. The Cupertino tech giant said December was a "record-breaking" month for the company, with more than 2 billion app downloads. In addition, the App Store now boasts more than 500 million active user accounts.

Apple also touted the breadth of its app ecosystem. The App Store is now home to more than 775,000 apps for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, including about 300,000 native iPad apps. The store is available to users in 155 countries around the world. Moreover, Apple has paid out more than $7 billion to developers for their apps.

"It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said in a statement. "Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world."

While the majority of app developers are fighting to just break even, some are raking in big money. For instance, two emerging game development studios, Backflip Studios and Supercell, brought in more than $100 million combined for their titles DragonVale and Clash of Clans, Apple said. In addition, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their uber-popular game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times.

"The success of our game Temple Run in 2012 was nothing short of astonishing," Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios, said in a statement. "We were simply looking to create a game that was fun and easy to play, but once it hit the App Store, the game took off."

Temple Run also launched on Android in 2012.

Apple in March celebrated the 25 billion app download milestone, giving one lucky App Store downloader a $10,000 App Store gift card. Meanwhile, the Google Play app store for Android devices reached 25 billion downloads in September.

For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.