Since its launch, the iTunes Store has crossed many milestones. In the first 18 hours, the store sold about 275,000 tracks and more than 1,000,000 in its first 5 days. When released for Windows in October 2003, iTunes was downloaded more than 1,000,000 times in the first 3 days, selling more than 1,000,000 songs in that period. On December 15, 2003 Apple announced that it had crossed 25 million songs sold.
On March 15, 2004, Apple announced that iTunes Music Store customers had purchased and downloaded 50 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. A song sold on iTunes gives the artist 9 cents in profit. They also reported that customers were purchasing 2.5 million songs a week which translates to a projected annual run rate of 130 million songs a year. The 50 millionth song was “The Path of Thorns” by Sarah McLachlan.On April 28, 2004, the iTunes Music Store marked its first anniversary with 70 million songs sold,
Important Timelines for iTune Stores
100 million songs sold: Summer, 2004
(Kevin Britten of Hays, Kansas, bought the 100 millionth song, and the twenty-year-old was given a call from Steve Jobs congratulating him.
125 million songs sold: September 1, 2004
150 million songs sold: October 14, 2004
200 million songs sold: December 16, 2004
(Ryan Alekman of Belchertown, Massachusetts, USA, bought the 200 millionth song, which was one of the tracks on U2’s digital box set The Complete U2.
250 million songs sold: January 24, 2005
300 million songs sold: March 2, 2005
400 million songs sold: May 10, 2005
On July 5, 2005 Apple announced a promotion counting down to half a billion songs sold.
500 million songs sold: July 18, 2005
(Amy Greer of Lafayette, Indiana, USA, bought the 500 millionth song, “Mississippi Girl” by Faith Hill.)
850 million songs sold: January 10, 2006
1 billion songs sold: February 23, 2006
1.5 billion songs sold: September 12, 2006
2 billion songs sold: January 10, 2007
2.5 billion songs sold: April 9, 2007
3 billion songs sold: July 31, 2007
4 billion songs sold: January 15, 2008
5 billion songs sold: June 19, 2008
6 billion songs sold: January 6, 2009
8 billion songs sold: July 21, 2009
8.6 billion songs sold: September 9, 2009
10 billion songs sold: February 24, 2010
Louie Sulcer (SUL’-sir) of Woodstock, Georgia downloaded Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash. At 71 years old, he is the oldest milestone winner. He received a call from Steve Jobs and a $10,000 iTunes gift card
Video Statistics
1 million videos sold: October 31, 2005
3+ million videos sold: December 6, 2005
8 million videos sold: January 10, 2006
15 million videos sold: February 23, 2006
45 million videos sold: September 12, 2006
50 million television episodes sold: January 10, 2007
1.3 million feature-length films sold: January 10, 2007
2 million feature-length films sold: July 31, 2007
200 million television episodes sold: October 16, 2008
1+ million HD episodes sold: October 16, 2008
Applications Statistics
10 million apps downloaded: July 14, 2008
100 million apps downloaded: September 9, 2008
200 million apps downloaded: October 22, 2008
300 million apps downloaded: December 5, 2008
500 million apps downloaded: January 16, 2009
800 million apps downloaded: March 17, 2009
1 billion apps downloaded: April 23, 2009
1.5 billion apps downloaded: July 14, 2009
1.8 billion apps downloaded: September 9, 2009
2 billion apps downloaded: September 28, 2009
3 billion apps downloaded: January 5, 2010
7 billion apps downloaded: October 20, 2010
10 billion apps downloaded: January 22, 2011
15 billion apps downloaded: July 7, 2011