The Android Market Passes 400,000 Apps, Doubles Apple’s Growth In Just 4 Short Months

(10:43 am PDT, Jan 4th 2012)

The Android Market Passes 400,000 Apps, Doubles Apple’s Growth In Just 4 Short Months
The Android Market saw staggering growth in 2011 and thanks to some tracking done by Distimo, we have a better look at how the numbers play out in comparison to Android’s top competitor Apple. According to Distimo, the Android Market has now reached over 400,000 apps, which is still 100K shy of Apple’s 500K+ active apps available according to 148apps metrics. While Android still trails in overall apps, it’s really the rate at which it’s growing that is impressive.

Distimo shows that Android’s beginning was a slow one. It took the Android Market a total of 31 months to reach the milestone of 200K apps, compared to Apple’s 22 months. However, after the resurgence of the Android operating system across the mobile market, it only took 4 months for the Android Market to go from 200K to 300K compared to Apple’s 8 months. That growth carried on from 300K to 400K with Android taking only 4 months compared to Apple’s 7. At this rate, it appears Google’s Android Market will have more active apps by the end of this year.

The Android Market Passes 400,000 Apps, Doubles Apple’s Growth In Just 4 Short Months

It’s also interesting to point out that the majority of active apps in the Android Market are free apps, which account for 68% of all apps. We sure do like our free apps, but I still have a theory that the low number of apps being paid for by Android users has a lot to do with the fact that Android doesn’t have any form of gift card like Apple. Once we get some form of Google gift card, I guarantee paid content will skyrocket. Anyways, these are the unofficial numbers and I’m sticking to them. Congrats Android Market and all the developers that made it happen.

via Electronista

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Comment »

  • http://www.vgartdesign.com/ Volodoscope

    well it’s much easier to port an already built and tested app from iOS to Droids, that’s why.

  • David Aames

    Now if this store were to be the other way around, there would be some android asshole here saying how they were all fart apps.

  • Anonymous

    Well, at the end of the day, it is not the quantity that counts, it is quality that matters. What do I do with 390K shitty apps, even if they are free? Free bad apps are a disfavor and diversify the market. (M)Any commercial developer hesitates to enter such markets. Just, for starters, it is almost impossible to charge anything for something that really cost money to develop. The market has gone bust and everyone is expecting everything for free. The quality of the apps in the Android market leaves a lot to be desired. When everyone can do everything we have to accept both highs and lows. It is a hit or miss, with a lot misses.

    You can compare it to websites, everyone can do it. But how many good or even great sites are there?

    Accepting everything will bury the platform, as Google always does sooner or later with much of their things. You can’t be everything for everyone. Accept that and they will conquer and seize new venues.

  • Anonymous

    I suspect that this marks the end of Apple using the number of apps as a marketing tool. At these numbers, it hardly make a difference anymore. You are going to find the app you are looking for on either platform.

  • rosswell elti

    But Apple vets its App Store.
    With Google, any app is allowed (basically), so there are bound to be a large number of useless, garbage, test apps that are being counted in the frenzy to have a BIG app count.Quality matters, too

    • Anonymous

      of course how can we forget of apples top-of-the-line quality filters? with those hundred of fart apps floating around in the app store…..

      all the apps/games that actually matter are already on android, so Id say its a tie right now, all the other apps (for either party) are ones no one really uses. and the fact that Google has very low filters is a good thing in my opinion, I can find torrent managers, emulator to play gba games, and custom UI’s. 

About the author

Vincent MessinaVincent Messina has been writing and evangelizing about Android for the past three years. When he's not playing the part of "Loki" to his 5 and 4-year-old, he can be found here, covering all things Android. He adamantly believes Android has the greatest community around and can be harassed at any of the following locations: Google+, Twitter.

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