Windows Phone 7 near 15K apps in six months

New statistics have suggested that Windows Phone 7 is near crossing the 15,000 app mark but is also seeing its catalog accelerate quickly. WP7applist as of Tuesday afternoon showed 14,946 apps having been added in the half-year since WP7's October 2010 launch, about 955 of which were no longer active. The rate could see it reach 15,000 active apps by the end of the month.

The rate of growth was such that about 3,000 new apps will have been published on Windows Phone Marketplace by the end of April, or as much as the entire store had a month after it opened.

Microsoft's store is still much smaller than the roughly 150,000-app Android Market and the 350,000-plus apps of the iOS App Store but is one of the few stores outside of Apple and Google to grow quickly. BlackBerry App World took over a year and a half to reach the same size as Microsoft's store, and HP's webOS App Catalog still isn't at a similar figure. Most have attributed it to an easy app development environment along with the possibility for greater exposure by supporting a less saturated phone platform.

Development is expected to get a kick from the features introduced for the fall Mango update. Most of its features are catch-up introductions such as multi-tasking and camera access, but it will also greatly improve some WP7-specific features such as app-related home tiles. [via WinRumors]

By Electronista Staff