Apple Passes 60 Million Downloads for App Store, Gloats Just a Bit

It will likely come as no surprise to anyone who's been following iPhone news (whether by choice or by proxy), but the iTunes App Store is beginning to pay off in a big way.

Steve Jobs today announced during an interview with The Wall Street Journal that iPhone users have downloaded some 60 million apps since the store's launch, a few weeks back. A good chunk of the apps are free, of course, but the company has reported about $1 million a day since launch.

Apple gets a 20-percent windfall from the sale ever app. Most of those apps that do cost money are priced under the $10, but one now-infamous app priced at around $1,000 pulled in $2,400 for Apple from eight downloads.

"This thing's going to crest a half a billion, soon. Who knows, maybe it will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time," said Jobs in the interview. "I've never seen anything like this in my career for software."