Apple Inc. recently launched its 25 Billion Apps Countdown Promotion .

"As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.* Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet," the Cupertino, Calif.-based company announced in its Web site.

There are two ways to enter the promotion (i) downloading an app from the App Store for your iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices automatically enters you to the promotion; or (ii) completing an entry form at http://www.apple.com/itunes/25-billion-app-countdown/entry-form. Users from the U.S. and Canada may also call 1-866-296-5926 to join the promotion.

Only 25 entries per person and/or iTunes account and/or email address, per day will be granted.

The winner will receive one App Store Gift Card for credit in an amount equal to US$10,000, redeemable in the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBook Store, as available in the country in which the winner is located.

As of this moment there have been 24,472,700,000 apps downloaded from the app store. More than 10,000 apps are downloaded every minute.

Apple launched the App Store in July 2008 via an update to the iTunes. The App Store is a digital application distribution platform for iOS and allows users to browse and download applications for Apple mobile devices. The 10 billionth app was downloaded in January 2011, and the 15 billionth app was downloaded in July the same year.

There are more than 500,000 apps available at the App Store, with 30 percent of the apps available for free. For the paid apps, Apple shares revenue with developers (70 percent for the publisher, 30 percent for Apple).