Apple to Open European Center to Teach Students How to Make Apps
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Apple announced this morning that it would be opening its first European iOS App Development Center. Located in Naples, Italy, the goal of the center is to foster creativity and give students the skills needed to develop apps for the Apple ecosystem.
The development center will support teachers, and will offer a specialized curriculum designed by the company to nurture the skills of budding developers from the region. In the press release published this morning, Apple stated that the development center would “work with partners around Italy who deliver developer training to complement [the] curriculum and create additional opportunities for students.” The press release also mentioned that the company will look to expand the program into other countries in the future.
“Europe is home to some of the most creative developers in the world and we’re thrilled to be helping the next generation of entrepreneurs in Italy get the skills they need for success,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apps today are big business. Finland’s Supercell, creators of the popular Clash of Clans gaming app, pulled in a reported $829 million in 2013 alone, and Game of War has was grossing over $1 million a day for much of 2015.
Growth of the App Store has been great for the European economy, creating an estimated 1.2 million jobs directly related to iOS app creation, with an estimated 75,000 app creation jobs filled in Italy alone. According to the press release, Apple’s App Store “has helped developers in Europe earn over €10.2 billion from selling their apps around the world.”
It’s not clear yet when the development center will open, but the timing of the announcement has spawned some conspiracy-like theories around the web. The announcement comes right on the heels of news that Apple could be on the hook for up to $8 billion in back taxes in Europe. While the timing is likely a coincidence, some, like VentureBeat‘s Paul Sawers, suggest that a deal was possibly struck with the Italian government.
