Mac App Store Hits 10,000 App Milestone 15 Months After Launch
by Dave LeClair
April 28, 2012
The Mac App store, while not growing at the incredible rate of its mobile brother, has just hit a major milestone. There are now over 10,000 applications available for download. The Mac App Store is very similar to the iTunes App Store on mobile devices, it just features Mac applications that can be much larger, and more expensive.
While 10,000 apps might sound like an impressive number, it is insignificant when compared to the over 600,000 available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Of course, the App Store has been around much longer on mobile devices so it only stands to reason that there would be many more apps available.
When the Mac App Store started, there were 1,600 applications available for download. That is a sizable amount of growth in a relatively short time. Of course, the 10,000 number includes both free and paid applications.
Most of the applications available in the Mac App Store are available direct from the developers and through other download services. I think that is why the Mac App Store is not growing at the rate of the App Store on mobile devices. On iPhone, everything is available exclusively through the App Store, (with the exception of jailbreaking) so if there is an app made for the device, it will be on the App Store. For the Mac, a developer can choose to sell their app through a number of channels.
That being said, it's good news to see that the Mac App Store has hit a big milestone. Here's to 10,000 more apps!