Apple's App Store generated $20 bn for developers in 2016

Apple Inc said on Thursday its App Store generated $20 billion for developers in 2016, a 40 per cent increase from 2015, helped by the popularity of games such as Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run and increased revenue from subscriptions.

App Store sales topped more than $3 billion in December, helped by the launch of Nintendo Co Ltd's Super Mario Run, which was downloaded more than 40 million times in the first four days after its launch.

Nintendo's Pokemon Go was also the most downloaded application in 2016.

Billings from popular subscription-based apps such as Netflix, HBO Now and MLB.com At Bat jumped 74 per cent to $2.7 billion in 2016.

Apple said customers spent nearly $240 million on apps and in-app purchases on New Year's Day, the biggest sales day ever.

App sales in China jumped 90 percent last year, Apple said without providing details.

Apple said on Thursday it had removed the New York Times Co's English- and Chinese-language news apps from its iTunes store in China at the request of local authorities.

The apps, NYT said were removed on December 23, are the latest Western services to fall foul of Chinese authorities, whose other scalps include Apple's own iBooks and iTunes Movies stores which have been blocked since April.

Their removal comes just over a month after the Cyberspace Administration of China called for greater media scrutiny, citing fears of social disorder, moral harm and threats to national security. The internet regulator did not respond to a faxed request for comment about the Times' apps.

"The development of the internet in China must respect China's laws and regulations, in principle," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in response to a question about the apps.

NYT spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told Reuters that the newspaper has asked Apple to reconsider.

"The request by the Chinese authorities to remove our apps is part of their wider attempt to prevent readers in China from accessing independent news coverage by The New York Times of that country," Murphy said.

The government has blocked NYT’s websites since 2012 after a series of articles on the wealth of the family of then-Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, the New York Times reported.

"We have been informed that the app is in violation of local regulations," Apple spokesman Fred Sainz in California told Reuters.

An Apple spokeswoman in China declined to comment on specific reasons or which regulatory body made the request.

Apple has previously removed news apps from its China app store, but none as high-profile as the New York Times. At least three other apps have been removed from the app store in recent years on the grounds of "illegal content", according to news reports and the apps' developers.

Apps from other international publications whose websites are blocked, including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, were still available on Thursday.