Apple iPhone vs Android Platform Apps Sold and Market Size

Disclaimer: I’m an Apple fanatic. That said, I just wanted to share some interesting numbers showing the growth to date of the iPhone/iPod Touch app platform against the Google Android app platform.

I’m looking forward to watching this develop and to getting my hands on the Android 2.0 devices. In the meantime, here are some numbers I picked up from some July ‘09 AdMod data (linked below).

First, consider the absolute app numbers:

• Android SDK was released 9/23/2008. In about 14 months it reached about 10,000 apps.
• iPhone SDK was released 3/06/2008. In about 14 months it reached about 70,000 apps (in 18 months it reached about 100,000).

Second, consider the number of users:

• Android, approximately 3 million users
• iPhone and iPod touch, approximately 50 million users

Third, consider the likelihood of purchasing a paid app (according to AdMob):

• Android 19% likely to pay
• iPhone 50% likely to pay

Finally, consider total market size:

• Android market size: $5 million (sold monthly)
• iPhone/iPod Touch market size:  $200 million (sold monthly).

So if you believe AdMobs numbers, Apple’s market is worth about $2.4 billion annually. Very interesting to watch this unfold.

Good article on all this stuff:
http://gigaom.com/2009/08/27/how-big-is-apple-iphone-app-economy-the-answer-might-surprise-you/