Apple Triples Free-dealing Android's Paid App Count
April 28, 2011
A nice series of charts from Netherlands-based Distimo is putting all the competing "app store" numbers into perspective. As assumed, Apple's still on top in every category, but Google's machine is making a spirited push.
Unfortunately for Android, that push -- though buoyed by the largest total free-app count anywhere (12,497 more than iOS) -- isn't translating into big bucks for the search giant, as Apple's platform hosts over three times the amount of profit-generating paid applications. And even though Android is set to eclipse the App Store's total volume (currently sitting at 367,334) in a mere five months, it likely won't matter until developers and users are willing to spend more time and money on the OS. On the other side, Apple has paid its developers more than USD two billion as of February 2011; and it's going to be extremely difficult for Android to get that kind of monetary attention from its growing user base.
Also of note in the survey is Nokia's continuing decline as RIM's App World outpaces their Ovi Store, and the fact that Windows Phone 7 offers fewer than double the apps of the nearly-defunct Palm App Catalog. Still, Apple and Android are so far out in front that it's hard to imagine any of the other players will ever catch up.
