Chief Executive of Apple Inc. – Steve Jobs, in today’s Wall Street Journal said that users last month have downloaded more than 60 million programs for the iPhone. He said “While most of those applications were free, Apple sold an average of $1 million a day in applications for a total of about $30 million in sales over the month”. From this sum Apple is keeping only 30% of the proceeds from application sales and running application stores, while the programs’ creators keep 70%.

Jobs confirmed that downloaded iPhone applications have inside code (known as “killer switch” trigger) which routinely checks an Apple Web site and it can remove the undesirable software from the devices.

He argued that Apple needs it in case it inadvertently allows a malicious program. He said: “Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull”.

However, Jobs don’t’ explain the rules of adding/approve application for downloading in Apple stores. The company recently removed an application called I Am Rich that did nothing but display a glowing red gem, for the eye-popping sum of $1000. The programmer who created it, Armin Heinrich, says he thought he was abiding by Apple’s rules for its developers.

Tags | Apple, Business, Gadgets, Mobile, Technology News