It has been reported rather extensively over the past few days that the Android Market is approaching 100,000 apps. What we didn't quite grasp, was that 100k was merely an estimate and not an exact figure, derived by complex calculations (by
Androlib developers). Well, now we finally have a concrete number, straight from the horse's mouth, Google. During Thursday's second-quarter earnings call, Google Senior VP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg, revealed the more accurate number of apps currently on the market: 70,000. Now, 70,000 is still extremely impressive, as less than a year ago, the Android Market only had 10,000 apps. But let's relax on those Android Market vs iOS App Store comparisons, for now.
The 100k app figure didn't dominate the earnings call, however, according to
TechCrunch. In addition, Google CFO Patrick Pichette went on to explain that Android cost "
isn’t material for the company" because of Google doesn't develop its own hardware. So from that I'm basically hearing that Android is extremely profitable to Google. SVP Rosenberg continues, “
I think the most important thing beyond the growth [of the Market] is that the most popular app is a browser,
[that] search on Android devices grew 300% in the first half of 2010."
What's good for the Google is good for the gander, I suppose.
Source:
Android Central,
Tech Crunch
Photo courtesy of
Phandroid
