Android hits 400,000 activations per day

Google started off its just-wrapped Google I/O day one keynote with progress on how Android was growing. The platform is now up to 400,000 activations per day, up from 300,000 in December. Its growth rate had helped the platform reach 100 million total devices since it started off in October 2008.

The company also said it had managed to cross 200,000 active apps in Android Market. Its milestone is the first official piece of data since reaching the 120,000-app mark last year. Companies have been mentioning the 150,000-app mark in press releases but have never had the figure independently mentioned by Google.

Google's data puts Android's library at more than half the officially claimed Apple figure for the first time, with the iOS App Store having had about 350,000 apps at its last official count and 371,185 listed in unofficial stats today. The figure nonetheless shoots down optimistic estimates that Android Market would pass the App Store by August, since those figures had Android at 294,738 apps, well above reality.

Apple's iOS activation rate hasn't recently been updated and might not be until WWDC early next month. Its tally may still be ahead of Google's, though, since any gap in phones may be made up for both through the iPod touch and the iPad, which makes up 82 percent of tablets in the US and similar levels elsewhere. Android 3.0 has so far been slow to start with just 250,000 Xooms in the winter and few companies ready to sell significant numbers in the spring.

Unlike last year, Google I/O 2011 focused relatively little on attacking Apple apart from mild ribbing at the beginning, such as an image illustrating Android's perceived success (below). The 2010 day two event tried to cast Apple as an Orwellian regime that needed Android to break.

By Electronista Staff