BlackBerry App World hits first birthday

BlackBerry's App World celebrates its first birthday today, the marketplace having launched in three territories – the US, Canada and the UK – back on April 1st 2009.

Now available in 46 countries, RIM's chosen method of celebration has been to release a series of statistics detailing App World's progress over the last twelve months.

Expanding apps

As such, RIM claims there are now over 200,000 registered developers globally.

These studios have so far produced more than 6,000 apps in total, with 36 million subscribers able to tap into their software.

"Whilst the BlackBerry platform has always been built to accommodate applications, the launch of BlackBerry App World has made it easy for consumers to browse and download apps safe in the knowledge that whatever shows up in the store will work for their model, on their network," the company said in a statement.

RIM has also chosen to promote a select few apps it claims represent the top titles to have hit the marketplace over the course of the last year.

Two games make the line-up, PopCap's Bejeweled and EA's Need for Speed 3D both earning a place in RIM's spotlight.

Rotten Apple

App World's tally of 6,000 apps pales in comparison to the App Store, however.

Back in July 2009, CNET estimated that around 50,000 apps had hit iPhone and iPod touch during the App Store's first year.

That equates to around 137 new apps a day, which compares rather favourably to App World's somewhat more modest average of 16 new apps a day.

Titles on App World also tend to cost more. According to recent research by Distimo, App World apps are the most expensive on the market, coming in with an average price of $8.26.

Despite this high price, rival analytics firm Mplayit believes gaming based apps generate almost twice as much interest on App World as they do on Android Market, with the BlackBerry figure totalling 33 percent of all app activity to Android's 17 percent.

Both fall way behind the iPhone, however, Mplayit having concluded 64 percent of all app activity on the Apple App Store is gaming related.

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