iPhone: three billion apps served

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 06 January 2010 04:44

IT Industry - Development

More than three billion apps for the iPhone and iPod touch have been downloaded from Apple's App Store.

A year and a half ago, Apple launched the App Store as the sole official conduit between developers and owners of the iPhone and iPod touch.

The first billion downloads form the store took took nine months, with that milestone being achieved in April 2009. With a growing number of devices in use, the second billion was notched up just five months later in September 2009.

The third billion took a little over three months.

"Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months — this is like nothing we've ever seen before," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

In an apparent dig at Google's Android platform, he added "The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon."

Apple gave no hints about what proportion of the three billion downloads were free or paid.

The App Store hasn't been free of controversy, with some developers expressing concerns about the approval process. Some people also object to the idea of a single source for third-party software (especially as Apple takes a reportedly non-negotiable 30% commission on all sales), or the fact that Apple has built in a 'kill switch' allowing any particular application to be remotely disabled en masse.

It was a hot Christmas at the App Store - find out just how hot on page 2.