Apple has announced that more than two billion iPhone and iPod applications have been downloaded from the App Store in a little over a year.

The company said that there are now more than 85,000 apps available to over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch owners worldwide, and over 125,000 developers in its iPhone developer program.

“The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

Jobs said earlier this month that Apple is now pushing the iPod touch as a dedicated games machine. At the same time, Apple said that the App Store houses over 21,178 “game and entertainment titles” for iPhone and iPod touch, compared to 3,680 games available for Nintendo’s DS and just 607 for Sony’s PSP.

UK mobile phone carrier Orange has announced that it will be offering Apple’s iPhone on its network later this year in a deal that will mark the end of O2’s two-year exclusivity contract and double the platform’s domestic audience.  The news comes just three weeks after Orange proposed a merger with T-Mobile, which would make it the largest mobile network in the UK with 28 million subscribers compared to 02’s second position 22 million.

The deal, therefore, will mean that iPhone will be available to around 50 million customers in the UK, further expanding the platform’s potential reach for App Store developers.

PREMIUM WHOLESALE now sell iPhone Wholesale Job Lots to UK Resellers. Our buyers include Ebayers, Amazon Sellers & other Online Retailers. Check out our latest Wholesale Stock today!

Related Apple Store Articles