Android Market Poised to Have 500,000 Apps by May 2012

Marketing your products, company and services via an app is a very effective way to give you top of mind recall among your customers and it also helps introduce you to new prospects and clients. However, it is becoming difficult to come up with an app that is unique and functional — two of the qualities needed for a successful app. Case in point is that the Android Market is now on track to have half a million apps by May 2012.

How many Android apps are there now?

Distimo, an app store statistics tracker that is based in the Netherlands, reported in December 2011 that the Android Market has already reached the 400,000 level. This is an achievement for the Android Market because it has posted a faster growth than its rival, Apple.

The Android Market reached 200,000 available apps just in April 2011, and another 100,000 was added by August 2011. That means that the Android Market only needs four months to add 100,000 new apps. At that rate, it would reach 500,000 apps by May 2012.

If that happens, the Android Market would officially have more available apps than Apple’s App Store.

The good news is that the number of app developers is growing too. Distimo reports that there are currently 100,000 app developers on the Android Market.

What does this mean for you as a business owner?

As we have said before, apps marketing is a worthwhile marketing activity that every business owner should consider. But coming up with an original app might prove difficult. The next best thing is to take a look at the apps that are relevant to your business or industry, take a look at what it is doing well and what features are lacking. Then try to design an app that incorporates the good and making it better by providing the features that you want to see. “Make it your own,” as American Idol judges like to say, also applies to mobile apps.