For the first time in January 2015, a published report stated that Google Play had definitively overtaken the Apple Store in the sheer number of available downloadable applications; the report certainly pointed to Google having managed a massive turnaround in volume of applications.
The App Store launched in 2008 boasted a moderate 500 apps, it was not the biggest when launched, it was also not the first operating systems specific app store of its kind. In contrast, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile store already stocked over 18,000 apps and Palm claimed upwards of 30,000 active app developers at the time. Apple quickly rectified this, speedily outpacing all rivals to achieve 10 million downloads over its first weekend after launch, not resting on its laurels it hastened on to over a hundred million downloads within the first three months and within the first year achieved 1.5 billion downloads from 65,000 available apps. Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, remarked at the time that it would be very difficult for their competitors to catch up.
In June 2015 Apple achieved 75 billion app downloads from the Apple store, in January 2015 they were hosting 1.4 million apps, available to users in 155 countries.
Google had a relaunch, remake, and renaming of the old Android Market, launched in 2008, into Google Play re-launched in 2012. At the time, the Apple Store generated nearly 4 times the income of Google Play. Google certainly seems to have turned the tables around to some degree since the early days and fought through the hard yards of deficiencies, shortcomings, and general user unfriendliness. During 2014 Google Play very close to doubled its available number of apps and slowly but surely decreased the number of substandard apps that it was accused of fielding, to below 13% in total volume and continually culls additional deadwood on a quarterly basis.
The battle between these two giants of the mobile world is still a long way from settled, by the end of 2014 Apple shipped 700 million iOS devices in total through its doors from the first iPhone until January 2015, several reports state approximately 200 million iOS devices are no longer active, leaving 500 million devices active in the market. Android will see 1 billion devices activated in 2014 alone; this will be in addition to the 1.9 billion devices currently active globally. Google Play as of July 2015 fields 1.6 million available apps, Apple’s App Store fields 1.5 million apps, Amazon App Store fields 400,000, Windows phone store around 340,000, with Blackberry World languishing at 130,000 available apps.
By January 2015 according to Apple their app developers earned in excess of US$25 billion from apps offered in its App Store, compared to $10 billion in 2014 with $500 million spent by iOS users on apps and in app purchases during January 2015 alone. Apple purportedly still earns 60% more than Google from its App Store proceeds, but Google enjoys upwards of 60% more downloads than Apple. Google approaches its clientele and business with a very different focus, while fielding billions more devices every year than Apple, and with Steve Jobs sadly now out of the picture, what does the future hold for both operating systems and its users.