News

3 Billion Android Apps Downloaded, Pace Tracking To Bypass iPhone/iPad Apps

• By Keith Ward
• April 18, 2011

Android smartphones continue to explode in popularity. So it's no surprise that the main driver of smartphones -- the apps that run on them -- should be similarly skyrocketing in usage.

During a conference call on April 14, Google confirmed the trajectory of Android-based apps, stating that users have downloaded and installed more than three billion apps. TechCrunch reported that Google's Jeff Huber, Senior VP Commerce and Local, also stated that app downloads are up 50 percent from the last quarter of 2010.

Other revelations from Huber include the fact that 350,000 Android devices, presumably meaning smartphones and tablets, are being activated per day. Those are factors resulting in Google's sterling earnings report, which showed a 27 percent increase year-over-year, according to CFO Patrick Pichette. The company's first-quarter revenue came in a $8.58 billion.

The app download trends also demonstrate the popularity of the platform. Reaching one billion Android app downloads took about 20 months. The second billion took about five months. The third billion cut that time down to two months.

By comparison, it took about nine months to reach billion app downloads on iOS, the platform that powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The second billion took five months. In January, iOS passed the 10 billion app mark.

With the growth of Android devices and multiple places from which to buy them -- including the recently-unveiled Amazon Appstore for Android -- it's likely that the 10 billion app threshold will be crossed more quickly than occurred for Apple.