Apple hits 15 billion iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch App Store downloads

Apple has surpassed the 15 billion mark for downloads of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch applications at its App Store, less than six months after a special promotion to mark the 10 billionth download.

The company said on Thursday that it had reached the figure in just three years.

"The revolutionary App Store has become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen," said Phillip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.

"Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps, and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads."

The milestone reflects the remarkable speed with which the App Store continues to grow. First released to serve third-party apps on iPhone and iPod Touch devices, the App Store has also benefitted from the launch of the iPad tablet.

Apple estimates that at least 100,000 of its 425,000 App Store offerings are iPad apps.

The company has paid out $2.5bn to developers during the first three years of the App Store, which has since sparked the launch of a similar service for the Macintosh platform.

However, Apple was dealt a legal setback after a US district court denied its claim to the rights to the 'app store' title.

Apple has argued that the term 'app store' refers specifically to its service, while challengers such as Amazon insist that the term is generic and could refer to any software download service.