100,000 iPad Apps – Behind the Numbers
By 
Apple’s iPad ecosystem hit another app milestone yesterday as the number of dedicated iPad apps available in the App Store passed the 100,000 mark. We’ve been tracking the explosive growth of iPad apps in the App Store since the iPad launched on April 3, 2010. The device has proven to be a hit with both consumers and developers, which has helped Apple hit record sales and profit numbers over the past year.
It took Apple only 454 days to reach the 100,000 iPad app milestone. This translates to developers uploading almost 9 new iPad apps to the App Store every hour for the past year. In comparison, it took Apple 482 days to hit 100,000 iPhone apps when the App Store first launched in 2008.
It was just over a year ago that the original iPad launched with only 3,000 apps. Since then, Apple has added an average of 221 apps per day and the addition of new apps has shown no signs of slowing. To the contrary, the rate of new iPad apps being added to the store has actually continued to accelerate. In the first month of the iPad being available, developers added 89 new iPad apps per day to the App Store. This past June, developers added an average of 270 apps per day.
App Store Numbers*
- 10,000 iPad Apps – 70 days
- 20,000 iPad Apps – 130 days
- 30,000 iPad Apps – 178 days
- 40,000 iPad Apps – 220 days
- 50,000 iPad Apps – 256 days
- 60,000 iPad Apps – 292 days
- 70,000 iPad Apps – 337 days
- 80,000 iPad Apps – 379 days
- 90,000 iPad Apps – 418 days
- 100,000 iPad Apps – 454 days
With over 100,000 iPad apps now available, the iPad is one of the fastest growing mobile application ecosystems. The iPad app store is currently the third largest mobile apps platform behind iPhone and Android. If you combine all iOS apps, there are over twice as many iOS apps as there are Android apps.
While Android has been growing quickly and has become the most widely used mobile OS, it still lags behind Apple’s App Store when it comes to apps. Android currently has 200,000 apps available in the Android Market for phone devices but it’s unclear how many are optimized for tablets. New York Times tech writer David Pogue recently tried to find the exact number and based on what he was able to determine, there are only 232 Android apps built specifically for tablets.
While both RIM and WebOS have been trying to establish themselves as a major alternative to iOS and Android, both tablet ecosystems are very lmited. Although official numbers are not available for RIM’s PlayBook, the current estimate is that there are somewhere between 1,800 and 2,700 dedicated apps. WebOS for tablets just launched last month so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the number of apps is tiny, only 300 WebOS apps are dedicated for the HP TouchPad. Both operating systems have a larger app ecosystem for their phone devices but most of those apps won’t run on their newer tablet offering.
Apple clearly has a huge market lead and has captured the mind share of both developers and consumers. If the company is able to continue its aggressive push to woo developers and provide them with the tools and sales opportunities they need to be successful, we expect Apple’s iOS ecosystem to continue to be the leading mobile ecosystem for years to come.
*Data from the PadGadget Apps Tracker and Apple App Store.
