Apple is opening its first ever iOS App Development Center in Europe, as the technology giant looks to woo budding coders and teachers with a dedicated space for learning how to build apps for Apple’s lucrative online store.
The new training space will be situated “at a partner institution” in Naples, Italy, and the company says it will “support teachers and provide a specialized curriculum preparing thousands of future developers to be part of Apple’s thriving developer community.” Furthermore, Apple said it will work with other partners around the country who already deliver developer training.
An Apple spokesperson confirmed with VentureBeat that it's one other iOS App Development center — in Brazil — though there is little information to suggest where exactly that is and when it opened. Apple provided no other details on this. However, in its press release today, the company said it plans to expand the program to other countries around the world. Indeed, Indonesia is another previously announced location, though no date has been announced yet.
Today’s news comes shortly after Apple revealed that in both weeks leading up to January 3, consumers spent a whopping $1.1 billion on apps for Apple devices. New Year’s Day was the single biggest day in the App Store’s history, according to Apple, with $144 million passing through the online store. The Cupertino company also said that developers have earned $40 billion since 2008.
Specific to Europe, Apple claims that it now supports 1.4 million jobs across the continent, the vast majority of which related to app development. Indeed, it said that developers in Europe have earned more than €10.2 billion ($11 million) from selling iOS apps.
The timing of today’s announcement is key, however, given that Apple has reportedly agreed to pay $348 million in back taxes to the Italian government. That Apple has chosen to launch its first ever European iOS App Development Center in Italy a matter of weeks after news of that tax deal emerged could be a coincidence — or, it could suggest a deal was struck with the Italian government.