125,000 applications published in Windows Phone Marketplace/Store

October 25, 2012 at 11:43 GMT | By John Williams

Windows Phone recently celebrated it's 2nd birthday, having been launched on the 21st of October 2010 in Europe. The Windows Phone Marketplace started off with a modest 2000 applications and games. The number has swelled to the current 125,000 mark. The 50,000 mark was reached on December 27th, 2011, the 60,000 mark on January 22nd, 2012, the 70,000 mark on February 23rd, the 80,000 milestone on March 26th, the 90,000 milestone on April 30th, and the 100,000 mark on May 3rd. The 125,000 mark was reached on October 14th.

As per usual, Allaboutwindowsphone.com'sRafe Blandford has delivers a concise breakdown of the figurea and facts:

As of October 22nd, 2012:

126,530 apps were published to the Windows Phone Marketplace over the last 20 months

113,170 apps are live (publicly listed as available for download, total across 60 countries)

101,517 apps are live in the US Marketplace

Windows Phone reached the 125,000 milestone faster than Android (26 months), but slower than iOS (18.5 months)

30,000 developers have published an app in the Marketplace

Proportion of quality apps (rated five or more times) stable in the UK at 7.8% (8% in May), increasing in the US at 13.8% (12% in May).

Rafe notes that there has been a slow down in the rate of apps being added to the Marketplace in the last few months, possibly a result of resources switching to the upcoming Windows Phone 8. He also notes that Windows Phone has lost some of its advantage since May while Android enjoyed very strong growth just after its second birthday, accelerating rapidly between 100,000 and 200,000 apps. Windows Phone, by contrast, has been relatively slow in growing from 100,000 to 125,000 apps. Much will depend on developer acceptance and uptake of Windows Phone 8 if the platform is to maintain its current relative position between iOS and Android.