Windows Phone hits 50,000 app milestone

Windows Phone marketplace has just reached a milestone in terms of the number of apps now available on the platform.

There are now 50,000 applications ready for download on the marketplace, which is an impressive achievement when it comes to the speed that Microsoft has managed to attain that mark.

Windows Phone 7 is, naturally, a long way behind Apple and Android’s stores, which have 500,000 and 400,000 apps respectively.

However, it took Google’s OS a year and a half to reach the same 50,000 mark – with Windows Phone 7 managing it in 14 months.

Apple did sprint to the 50K mark slightly faster though, hitting that point in a year.

It’s a bright spot of news for MS this week, amongst a few dour predictions regarding Windows Phone 7.

Sales of WP7 haven’t been lifted much by the launch of the Lumia 800 by Nokia, at least according to one website’s figures. Mobile Please estimated that only 0.2% of sales across its portal were for the Lumia 800.

Analysts have also cast doubt on whether the recent sales of Windows Phone 7 devices have increased to any real degree, with some surveys indicating a lack of interest in the OS in Europe at any rate.

Exane BNP Paribas found that only 2% of those questioned about their next smartphone were considering the Lumia 800.

The iPhone 4S isn’t selling quite as strongly in continental Europe as it is in the UK, either, showing that the Europeans are increasingly Android fans.

The top seller in the UK is currently the Samsung Galaxy S II followed by the iPhone 4S.