But reports today suggest that Apple’s era of application dominance may soon be over. Google is now announcing that it is quickly closing the gap on its rival, posting that there is a staggering 675,000 games and mobile applications currently available in the Android Marketplace. The statistic showed up on their website (the Nexus 4 page), under the heading Google Play, which explains how vibrant and growing the Android Market is lately.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Google and Android are ready to pull ahead of Apple. In fact, there are a lot more statistics here that point to Apple still being way ahead of its marketplace rival. For one, Apple has over 250,000 applications that are designed specifically for the iPad, while Android doesn’t have near the same number designed especially for tablets. Apple is also approximately 10 billion downloads ahead of Google Play (according to the report), which is still a substantial lead. Analysts also suggest that iOS applications monetize 40 to 50 percent better than Android applications. A survey that was taken awhile back shows that two-thirds of all Android users don’t pay for any of their apps.
These glaring reasons are helping to keep Apple ahead, even though Google Play seems to be catching up in terms of “volume of applications offered.” However, with Apple’s new iPad Mini priced at USD $329 and the Google Nexus 7 tablet marked at USD $199, it’s possible that more consumers will choose the lower-priced option this Holiday season. If that’s the case, then Google stands to make up some serious ground on its competition. Only time will tell though, and Apple still reigns supreme, at least for now.
Photo Credit: Google