Nokia’s app store that caters to S40, Symbian and Asha devices has reached a total of 2 billion app half of which can be accorded to low-end S40 and Asha phones. According to a statement issued by Nokia, the Nokia Store has seen total global downloads of 10 billion and accounts for 80 million app downloads from Indian users every month, with 168 app developers each responsible for apps downloaded over a million times.
This number highlights the fact that Nokia’s Asha line-up of low-cost phones has been a success especially in burgeoning markets and the low-end segments. However, to put that number in context, both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store have either crossed or are very close to 50 billion app downloads each. Nokia has obviously bet on Windows Phone for the high-end segment, but even the app download numbers for that platform are small (over 1 billion cumulative downloads by March of this year).
What the Nokia Store has in common with its gargantuan competition is the popularity of mobile games. Nokia has reported that action games, adventure games and sports games make up the top three most downloaded apps from the Nokia Store. Hopefully, the combination of low-end Asha phones and mid to premium range Windows Phone handsets will continue to work in tandem to revive the Finnish phone maker’s sagging fortunes.