The short of it is, Apple Podcasts are doing well. The service, which launched way back in 2005 as a part of iTunes, has slowly been building both content and users of the now independent app for iPhone and iOS. Now, according to a report from Fast Company, the Cupertino company has now seen some 50 billion all time downloads on the service.
In all, there are some 18.5 million podcast episodes available for download in Apple Podcasts with over 100 languages supported in those episodes. It is a staggering number on the whole and is a proof point that Apple has positioned itself well as being the go-to place to find a podcast on virtually any subject out there.
Fast Company, in their article, posted some fascinating growth numbers for podcasts on Apple’s service.
- In 2014, there were 7 billion podcast downloads.
- In 2016, that number jumped to 10.5 billion.
- In 2017, it jumped to 13.7 billion episode downloads and streams, across Podcasts and iTunes.
- In March 2018, Apple Podcasts passed 50 billion all-time episode downloads and streams.
The growth numbers somewhat coincide with Apple’s release of a dedicated podcasts app. That happened in June 2012 and as you can see, the growth hockey-sticked pretty soon afterward.
While we can certainly debate if the Apple Podcasts app is the best out there, from a content availability perspective, you are going to have a hard time finding a better choice.
