Apple's 25 Billion App Download Contest Winner Flown to Beijing for Award Ceremony - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple's 25 Billion App Download Contest Winner Flown to Beijing for Award Ceremony

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the winner of its 25 billion app countdown contest was Fu Chunli, a resident of Qingdao, China who was awarded an iTunes Store gift card valued at $10,000. Her milestone download was Disney's Where's My Water? Free.

fu chunli gift card
Fu Chunli shows off her $10,000 iTunes Store gift card

M.I.C. Gadget now offers profile of the winner, summarizing Chinese-language reports noting that she had only been an iPhone user for a month at the time of milestone and had been unaware of the contest until she was contacted by Apple.

Fu Chunli was not a big fan of Apple, and had only purchased her iPhone for about one month, still learning how to use the App Store. She didn’t know anything about the competition until she was contacted by Apple. When she received a call from staff at Apple (China), she thought it was a hoax. She was still confused when a friend told her that she received a prize from Apple, but did not believe her luck until she saw an email from Apple Inc.

The reports note that Chunli was invited to visit Apple's Chinese headquarters in Beijing last week, having been flown to the city at Apple's expense. Following a visit to corporate headquarters, she visited the company's Sanlitun retail store where an award ceremony was held to present her with the gift card and conduct interviews with the media. She also received training on her iPhone and the App Store and took the time to test drive some of the other Apple merchandise in the store.

Apple has been making a major push into China, with the company expanding its distribution reach there and working to build Chinese-focused features into several of its products in an effort to strengthen the appeal of the company's products there. Just today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at the Xidan Joy City retail store in Beijing as he visited the country to meet with undisclosed officials.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....

Top Rated Comments

189 months ago
Is there a "Buy All" option in iTunes?
She could just click that. ;)
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
189 months ago
What a coincidence that Apple is focusing a lot of Chinese development and the winner is from China.......
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
189 months ago
How funny would it have been if the 25 billionth app was a "soft porn" app? Im sure the winner would have bee a little more hesitant to come forward if such a situation arose :D
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FSMBP Avatar
189 months ago
...but can she use that card to purchase a new iPad or Macbook Pro? If not, what use is $10,000?

No. It's an iTunes Gift card; so she can purchase apps/music/movies/books. I don't know about you, but $10,000 to buy music/movies has a lot of use for me.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
189 months ago
$3000 of that will go back to Apple.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
189 months ago
I'm glad that someone new to apple won the context.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)