(Reuters) - In the month since Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
opened the App Store, an online software clearinghouse, users have
downloaded more than 60 million programs for the iPhone, Chief
Executive Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Apple sold an average of $1 million a day in applications for a
total of about $30 million in sales over the month, Jobs told the paper.
If sales stay at the current pace, Apple stands to earn at least
$360 million a year in new revenue from the App Store, Jobs said.
"This thing's going to crest a half a billion, soon," Jobs told the
journal adding that it may be a "$1 billion marketplace at some point
in time."
Jobs told the paper that Apple is keeping only 30 percent of the
proceeds from application sales while the programs' creators keep 70
percent.
However, Jobs believes that applications will sell more iPhones and
wireless-enabled iPod touch devices, enhancing the appeal of the
products in the same way.
Jobs confirmed that iPhones routinely check an Apple Web site that
could, in theory, trigger the removal of the undesirable software from
the devices.
He told the paper that Apple needed the capability in case it
inadvertently allowed a malicious program to be distributed to iPhones
through the App Store.
Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.
(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore)
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