How Many Apps Are There

There are an endless supply of Apps out there for the consumer to download.  Really, the challenge at this point, is for the consumer to find the app that works for them and download it to their smart phone.  There are also apps for Apple iOS devices, and apps for Android devices, and apps for Windows devices, and the list goes on.  In addition to the question of "how many apps are there", let's begin with how many app stores there are, first.

There are four major app stores sponsored by large companies in an effort to increase their share of the smart phone consumer market.  There is the Apple App (iTunes) store, Google Play (Marketplace), the Microsoft App Store and the Blackberry App store.  There are also move than two dozen 3rd party app stores, ranging in size from Handango to mJelly, that developers will turn to in an effort to get their app more exposure before making their app available in one of the larger commercial app stores.  As we mentioned in the previous post on Mobile Marketing, the personal endorsement and sharing of apps from one person's smart phone to their friends smart phone is still the most common and most effective way a customer will download an app.

We did want to have one example of the explosive growth in apps over the past few years.  Using just the Apple App store as an example, the chart below shows the amazing year over year growth.  You will also notice as the number of mobile devices has grown, the number of apps has too. 




Based on Apple announcements and press releases

  According to ABI Research, "there will be 29 billion apps downloaded in 2011, up from 9 billion in 2010. In Q2 Android overtook Apple in terms of app downloads with 44 percent of downloads, compared to Apple’s 31 percent." 

While the rate of growth in the number of apps will begin to decrease in the next few years, the complexity and integration of mobile apps to corporate ERP systems will continue to accelerate.  Providing customers the information that they want and need to make a purchase or consume your services delivered in their hand, right to their pocket is the next marketplace for a company to win.