No one really knows how huge Apple’s App Store is until we see the figures right smack in our faces. Recently analytics expert Distimo revealed shocking figures that I suspect most of us already know and accept – that the App Store’s growth is too much for rivals to handle. Right now 14,000 apps alone make an entry into the App Store each month! Astounding!

Distimo did not leave out the App Store’s closest rivals such as the Adroid Market and the Blackberry App World. However, no matter how you look at it, you must admit that they don’t come close to the growth experienced by Apple.

When Distimo’s report was released, they calculated that the App Store is home to approximately 151,000 applications. Android Market only has close to 20,000 apps but Android fans should not be disheartened for their rate of growth is revealed to be closer to 15% growth – even more than Apple’s 9% growth. Perhaps this is good news for Android users and like the saying goes, quality is not equivalent to quantity.

As for other Apple competitors, Blackberry’s App World only boasts of 5,000-odd apps whereas Nokia’s Ovi Store has 6118 apps to its name. Windows Marketplace is playing catch up with close to 700 apps but with more room for apps to be developed, who knows if one day Apple’s position as the number one app marketplace will be overtaken ?

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Looks like the Apple App Store is not going to be the only one offering applications to mobile users in the future! Together with 24 of the most renowned names in the mobile phone companies, Orange and O2 are looking at joining hands to break the monopoly currently enjoyed by the Apple App Store. The new platform will give mobile users more options in the form of an alternative marketplace, instead of turning only to Apple’s App Store.

If they succeed, the new platform will be even more versatile compared to Apple’s App Store. Why? Because it will cater to owners from a more diverse range of handsets – including the ever popular iPhone! With this, O2, Orange and co. will certainly bring home a tidy sum as a result of share of revenue from third party app developers.

Touted as “The Wholesale Applications Community”, the consortium aims to halt fragmentation of the app industry due to the fact that several app stores have existed across various handsets. The issue currently being discussed is that they need to be well prepared in the eventuality that a user has to perform multiple app downloads when and if new handsets are acquired.

O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone are only four of the notable names to have joined forces in creating this new app marketplace.

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