Windows Phone Marketplace hits 50k apps in 14 months

Microsoft's app store outpaces Android Market by 5 months, RE: 50k milestone

While the Google's Android Market and Apple's App Store are at the top of the heap in the app world -- as well as much more likely to make tech news headlines, even those by us -- Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace is making significant headway since its October 2010 launch. As of Wednesday, the app store has 50,000 apps, according to one report.

Now, that may not sound like a lot compared to Android Market's 380,000+ or the App Store's 500,000+. But the reason why this is notable is that Microsoft hit the 50k mark faster than Android and only two months slower than iOS. It took the Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace only 14 months, while the Android Market took 19 months, and the App Store 12.

The Microsoft Windows Phone Market is the second fastest app outlet to hit the 50k mark, behind Apple. Those Microsoft beat out include Android, Symbian, and Blackbery.

Of those 50, 000 apps, 17,276 were added in the last 90 days while 8,010 in the last 30 days. Apps are being added at the rate of 265 per day, a rate which is up from four weeks agao, when apps were being added at a rate of only 165 per day.

Breaking down that 50k apps, the four biggest app categories are entertainment, books & research, games, and tools & productivity, which combined for 57% of the total downloads. 58% of these apps were free, 29% were paid, and 14% were paid after a free trial.

Translation: The Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace will likely be making big headway in 2012.

[All Images: All About Windows Phone]