Apple starts the countdown to 25 billionth app

9to5 Staff | Feb 17 2012 - 9:04 am PT

Apple started a countdown to its 25 billionth app download on the App Store. A promotional page at the company’s website reads:

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card. Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

A special section on the App Store, and the official rules, state that a person lucky enough to download the 25 billionth app will take home a $10,000 App Store Gift Card. You can also fill out an entry form here to take part in the contest.

Hat tip to @Crossingman.

Just last quarter, the App Store raked in $700 million in quarterly revenue. Total App Store revenue so far sits at a whopping $4 billion. A year ago, Apple ran a similar promotion for its 10 billion App Store downloads. Apple’s 25 billion app downloads and 316 million cumulative iOS units at the end of last year compare to Google’s 11 billion downloads from Android Market and 250 million Android device activations. The App Store launched 3 years ago on July 10, 2008 and Google’s store followed three months later, on October 22, 2008. In case you did not hear this headline before, Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than all the Macs in 28 years.