GetJar's agnostic smartphone app store hits 2 billon downloads
GetJar, which along with Handango pretty much established the app store concept before every passer-by knew what an app actually was, believes its continuing viability is down to its open policy and commitment to the free model. Unlike the Apple, BlackBerry and Android equivalent marketplaces, it allows developers to upload their apps for any platform they wish. Android, Blackberry, Java, Symbian and Mobile Web customers will all find something that will work on their phone, with 150,000 apps available supporting (the company believes) 2,500 devices.
Patterns of what people are downloading reflect what’s happening elsewhere in the market, with Facebook being the most popular app across all platforms. 100,000 people have downloaded a Facebook app from the store, with the company reaching 1,000,000 Facebook Connect users so far.
It has also had fillips from massively popular online games and the simultaneous growth of the Android market, so Android versions of Cut The Rope and particularly Angry Birds have brought people to the business in large numbers.