Apple App Store downloads pass 40bn More than 40 billion apps have been downloaded since the App Store opened in July 2008, Apple said. That means around half of all Apple's app downloads were made last year - illustrating the speed at which the ecosystem continues to grow. Apple also said in a press release that December was record-breaking, with two billion downloads - around a tenth of the year's downloads - being made that month. Apple's download figures exclude app updates and re-downloads. "Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services. There are now 775,000 apps available from Apple's App Store, with 300,000 of those designed for the iPad. Apple added that the App Store now has more than 500 million active accounts. That doesn't mean the company has 500 million credit cards on its files, however, because it is possible to create an App Store account using an iTunes gift card. In October last year, Google announced that it had 700,000 apps available from its Play app store. Monitoring site The Sociable estimates that Google has already reached the 800,000 mark and is likely to hit one million apps by June. However, there are thought to be fewer dedicated tablet apps in the Play store.