50 billionth iOS app was 'Say the Same Thing,' Apple awards $10K gift card to Ohio man

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple announced on Thursday that the application downloaded to reach the App Store's 50 billion milestone was "Say the Same Thing" by Space Inch, landing an Ohio man a $10,000 gift card.

App


The free iPhone application was downloaded by Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, who has received a $10,000 gift card to the App Store for marking the 50 billionth download. That achievement was reached solely on unique downloads, and excludes re-downloads of applications or updates that can be installed.

There are now more than 850,000 applications on the App Store, with 350,000 of those native to the iPad. Apple said that customers are now downloading more than 800 applications per second, at a rate of more than 2 billion apps per month.

"Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded," said Eddy Cue, Apple?s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We?re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years."

The 50 billionth download mark was reached Wednesday afternoon, and Apple acknowledged that the milestone had been reached by updating its website with the word "Thanks" written out on an iPad mini. In addition to the $10,000 gift card awarded to Ashmore, Apple has also promised to give $500 App Store gift cards to the next 50 customers that followed the 50 billionth download.

Since launching in 2008, the App Store has seen significant growth. Apple in April 2009 launched a countdown to 1 billion app downloads, which was followed by the 10 billionth download less than two years later in January 2011. Most recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in October 2012 that App Store customers had downloaded more than 35 billion apps, meaning 15 billion apps have been downloaded in the past seven months alone.

In its press released issued on Thursday, Apple included quotes from a handful of developers who have reaped the benefits of Apple's success with the App Store. Their comments are included below:

"We were blown away with our success on the App Store back in 2008," said Rich Riley, CEO of Shazam. ?And almost five years later we continue to be amazed with how much people love using Shazam on their iPhone or iPad. With the App Store, we can effortlessly provide users with updates that give them great new features while making it easy for new users to discover and download Shazam for themselves."

"We started our company in 2008 as three friends focused on creating great educational apps for our children," said Caroline Hu Flexer, co-founder of Duck Duck Moose. "The App Store brought ?Wheels on the Bus? to the world in a big way. Sixteen apps later, a fan base of millions of parents, children and educators and a growing company with 20 full-time employees, we couldn?t be happier with our success."

"The App Store has been integral in getting us into the hands of millions of iOS users and has transformed our business," said Elizabeth Francis, Chief Marketing Officer of Gilt.com. "Our apps allow our members to access their favorite sales on Gilt every day, anytime, anywhere. App Store customers have proven to be a loyal shopper base and have been influential in making Gilt the globally recognized brand it is today."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    I sure hope the IRS considers this a "gift" and not a "prize", because were I in this man's shoes it would be a real problem to suddenly owe $3000 in taxes. I'd have to either refuse the gift, or sell it. Unless the IRS accepts App store credit!
  • Reply 2 of 17
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    No one won Name That Country and App.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    bleh1234bleh1234 Posts: 146member


    If Apple reports it to IRS, then yes the person has to pay the tax. The winner will receive a 1099 form.

  • Reply 4 of 17
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    You have to pay tax on prizes! hahaha.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by TeaEarleGreyHot View Post

    I sure hope the IRS considers this a "gift" and not a "prize", because were I in this man's shoes it would be a real problem to suddenly owe $3000 in taxes. I'd have to either refuse the gift, or sell it. Unless the IRS accepts App store credit!


     


    I'm not sure that "But your honor, it's a GIFT card, not a prize card!" will work, unfortunately.

  • Reply 6 of 17
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TeaEarleGreyHot View Post



    I sure hope the IRS considers this a "gift" and not a "prize", because were I in this man's shoes it would be a real problem to suddenly owe $3000 in taxes. I'd have to either refuse the gift, or sell it. Unless the IRS accepts App store credit!


    No doubt- I'd rather not get anything.  How the heck is he going to spend $10k in the App store?  lol...

  • Reply 7 of 17
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member
    The only gift worth receiving is cash then you can at least use your prize to pay off the taxes. A local family recently won a 3,500 square foot brand new home but had to sell it because they couldn't afford the IRS taxes nor the extremely high property taxes.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    andysol wrote: »
    How the heck is he going to spend $10k in the App store?  lol...

    It's for the whole store so it can be used for music and movies too. Download maybe 1,000 $0.99 songs, get a couple of $5-15 movies a week, get a $0.99-5 app a week. That's about $3k per year and it can last just over 3 years. It's a lot to spend but possible.

    As far as tax goes, if it's possible for Apple to pay the tax, they really should. At least send it out in $2k cards once a year so any liability is reduced.
  • Reply 9 of 17
    ronboronbo Posts: 669member
    When Apple is close to one of these giveaways, make sure you don't buy something silly, just in case it gets announced worldwide.
  • Reply 10 of 17
    solipsismx wrote: »
    No one won Name That Country and App.

    Lack of prescience. Perhaps all those claims about Apple's future doom are equally suspect.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    andysol wrote: »
    No doubt- I'd rather not get anything.  How the heck is he going to spend $10k in the App store?  lol...

    So even with taxes subtracted, you don't want a free $7000.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    bleh1234bleh1234 Posts: 146member
    Free 7000 in which you can only use on intangibles? Cant even resell anything at iTunes.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post

    So even with taxes subtracted, you don't want a free $7000.


     


    It's not about the free $7,000 in credit, it's about coming up with $3,000 in cash.

  • Reply 14 of 17
    sligslig Posts: 5member


    But there's an app for that, isn't there?

     

  • Reply 15 of 17
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,833member
    Will they announce the other 100 after?
  • Reply 16 of 17
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    jungmark wrote: »
    So even with taxes subtracted, you don't want a free $7000.
    Considering I would never spend $3,000 at the App Store in a decade (or more)? Ya- I don't want $7,000 for "free".
  • Reply 17 of 17


    The more I think about this, the more it seems that one might not need to cough up $3k to the IRS immediately.  The gift card is not convertible to cash, and has no value until spent.  So if I was given a $10k gift card, and only redeemed $400 worth of apps in the first tax year, then I should only need to pay my marginal tax rate on $400, not $10,000.  The remaining credit has no monetary value, until it's spent.  But I don't know how the IRS would view this.  


     


    Also, can't a person receive a gift of up to $10,000 tax-free, anyway?  It's not income, and it's not prize money...  it's a gift card.   So possibly no tax is due.  I bet the recipient of this gift is glad he wasn't downloading some risque app.  ;)

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