The race for the pole position in the app space is heating up. According to the app tracking service AndroLib, Google’s Android Market now has more than 200,000 apps. Even more shocking than the number is that less than two months ago Google said there were only 100,000 apps. Did the number of apps in the Android Market double in less than two months?
Until Google makes an official statement regarding the number of apps in the Android Market, we’ll have to assume AndroLib’s report is accurate. Doubling in application volume in less than two months is nothing short of remarkable. Assuming this information is accurate, how could this happen?
For starters, Google has gone on the record to confirm more than 300,000 Android phone activations each day. The latest Gartner report (3Q 2010) showed Android is only second to Nokia is worldwide smartphone market share. With that being said, there’s certainly no shortage of Android users.
Digging deeper into AndroLib’s data, the Android Market has seen more than 2.5 billion application downloads. The increased number of downloads can largely be attributed to the roll out of carrier billing. Previously, one of the biggest hurdles stopping application sales was Google Checkout. As much as Google would like to enforce their payment method, it goes against the open source mentality of giving users options.
Assuming AndroLib is accurate with their 200,000 apps available in the Android Market, what other reasons do you believe helped fuel this much-needed growth spurt? Is the shift to 80 percent of Android devices running 2.X or higher helping or is it something else? Let us know what you think.
via PCWorld
