Apple Hits 25 Billion App Downloads. And 500 Apps Downloaded Every Second (Update: The Winner is Announced!)

25 billion     Total app downloads
15 billion     Apple's current rate of app downloads per year
550,000       Apps on the App Store
45,000         avg. downloads per app
10,000         credit, in dollars, on the iTunes gift card the winner of Apple's countdown promotion got
476              apps downloaded every second from the App Store
9                  days longer it would've taken to hit 25 billion if Angry Birds was never introduced
4                  years since the introduction of the App Store
3.6               avg. app downloads per person on the Earth

True, a lot of things in the world of technology are quite shocking, but it's hard to find numbers like this. I mean, who would guess that almost 500 apps are being downloaded every time the second hand on their clock moves? As ridiculous as these numbers may sound, Apple isn't stopping any time soon.

The App Store just reached 25 billion downloads, and somebody (their name has yet to be revealed) has won a $10,000 iTunes gift card as a reward for downloading the 25 billionth app. If you saw the counter during the promotion, you have a sense of how successful Apple is (The thousands digit counter was turning every 2 seconds. Literally.).

Update: The winner of the promotion was an unnamed person in China, who downloaded "Where's My Water" as the 25 billionth app. Congratulations!