WASHINGTON (AFP) – Apple's App Store hit 10 billion downloads on Saturday, the California gadget-maker announced.

"Thank you. Ten billion times. The App Store has reached 10 billion downloads. Thanks for getting us there," Apple said in a message on its website.

The App Store offers more than 300,000 free and paid mini-programs known as applications, or apps, for Apple's popular iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The success of Apple's App Store has spawned rivals Blackberry, Google, which is the developer of the Android mobile operating system, and others to launch their own online app stores.

Apple reported a record quarterly net profit of $6 billion on Tuesday, a day after the company's iconic chief executive, Steve Jobs, announced he is going on medical leave.