The total number of mobile applications available across the top-four smartphone platforms in the world is now approaching the 1 million-app milestone, further highlighting the rapid growth of the smartphone and tablet software market. As of the end of last week, there were 989,863 applications available across Apple’s iOS App Store, Google’s Android Marketplace, RIM’s BlackBerry App World and Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace according to analytics company Mobilewalla. Apple continues to lead the pack in terms of volume with 590,138 apps in the App Store, Android trails with 320,315, RIM holds the No.3 spot with 43,544 and Microsoft rounds out the top-4 with 35,479 apps. “This is truly an astonishing accomplishment that cannot be ignored,” Mobilewalla founder Anindya Datta said in a statement. “The growth of apps is the fastest growing consumer segment in the history of commerce. The app race began in July, 2008 when the iTunes App store opened and Google followed with the launch of the Android operating system in October, 2008. Recently, app marketplaces have been launched for the Blackberry RIM and Microsoft Windows Phone platforms.” Mobilewalla‘s full press release follows below.
Mobile Apps Approaching Major Milestone of 1 Million Apps in Marketplace: Mobilewalla
Today’s Count: 989,476
“Astonishing Accomplishment That Cannot Be Ignored”
NEW YORK and ATLANTA, Dec. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The total number of individual mobile apps in the marketplace is approaching a major milestone, hitting the 1 million mark within the next week, according to Mobilewalla, the search, discovery and analytics engine that tracks apps in real time.
Today the app count rose to 987,863 across all 4 platforms; an average of 2,000 apps enter the marketplace each day (with numbers higher at end of year for holiday rush). In the last 12 months, Apple apps grew from 338,000 to 589,148. Similarly Android apps went from 115,000 to 319,774. Please follow us on Twitter at #millionmobileapps.
Here is the breakdown:
Platform Total Percentage of Total Apple 590,138 59.95% Android 320,315 32.54% Blackberry 43,544 4.42% Windows 35,479 3.60% “This is truly an astonishing accomplishment that cannot be ignored,” says Anindya Datta, the founder and executive chairman of Mobilewalla. “The growth of apps is the fastest growing consumer segment in the history of commerce. The app race began in July, 2008 when the iTunes App store opened and Google followed with the launch of the Android operating system in October, 2008. Recently, app marketplaces have been launched for the Blackberry RIM and Microsoft Windows Phone platforms.”
“In the early days most of the initial apps were “fun, indie” apps, such as the Doodle Jump game, one of the first mass-market apps to gain viral popularity and paved the entryway for other mass successes like Angry Birds,” says Datta. “As app usage skyrocketed, the nature of the app ecosystem changed quickly – new apps were designed to improve our lives, disseminate news, weather and even crop data in places like rural India.”
Across all platforms, the top categories of apps are: Entertainment 16.68% Games 13.36% Books 10.21% Lifestyle 8.02% Utilities 7.13% Education 7.08% Travel 4.84% Business 3.76% Reference 3.73% Music 3.32% Health & Fitness 3.28% Productivity 3.09% Sports 2.92% News 2.85% Social Networking 2.71%. For more app intelligence, please visit: http://www.mobilewalla.com/Desktop/AppIntel_AppCount.htm?filterDevicePlatform=101
