Apple’s App Store is now home to an estimated 500,000 downloads

app-store-500000 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple was first to the market with its mobile revolution-launching iPhone and App Store, but a report from last month noted that Google‘s own app offering on the Android Market will surpass Apple’s as early as July, at least in terms of the raw number of downloadable apps. The App Store is no slouch, however. 148apps, Chillingo and Chomp collaborated on an App Store stats infographic which, among other things, reveals that the digital delivery platform has reached the milestone of 500,000 apps available for download. Not bad for something that launched in 2008.

The infographic is rather huge and all-encompassing. The 500,000 figure is a highlight, but there’s quite a bit more to be gleaned as well. Did you know, for example, that 37 percent of the available apps are free to download? Or that $3.64 is the average price paid per app? It should come as no surprise that Angry Birds is the most popular app of all time, with a whopping 275 days spent in the App Store’s #1 spot. The number two all-time seller, Moron Test, lags behind significantly, with only 38 days spent at the top of the charts.

A timeline charts out key App Store milestones. Apple launched the service on July 10, 2008 with 500 apps, a number that grew to 10,000 by November 29 of that same year. By November 2009, the number had grown to 100,000, and then 300,000 by October 2010. Apple revealed in January of this year that the app offering had climbed to 350,000, and it’s been a quick run since then to the current 500,000 figure. The total cost of these apps together — and remember, an estimated 37 percent are free! — falls below the million dollar marker, with the infographic putting the number at $891,982.24. Don’t confuse that with the total value of these apps which, to Apple, is somewhere in the neighborhood of priceless.

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