Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the number of applications available via BlackBerry App World has doubled to 2,000 since the virtual storefront opened in April.
In an interview with Bloomberg, RIM vice president of global alliances Jeff McDowell said the handset maker is “very happy” with the number of applications available from BlackBerry App World, adding that the variety of music, video and games downloads is sufficient to rival Apple's App Store, which boasts more than 50,000 iPhone and iPod touch apps.
“I don't think it matters whether it's 40,000 or 2,000 – you've still got a broad range of choice,” he said.
Needham analyst Charlie Wolf disagrees with McDowell's assessment, telling Electronista that BlackBerry App World's limited catalog is a drawback that “hasn't caught up” to actual phone sales. Needham expects that to change once the gap in software selection becomes more evident.
According to McDowell, RIM is poised to open BlackBerry App World to consumers in Italy, France, Germany and Spain later this month, with plans to roll out in Brazil and India later this year.
He adds that developers are already tailoring their apps for international consumers, with programmers creating cricket and Bollywood-themed apps for Indian users and soccer apps for European users.
McDowell said RIM is relying on BlackBerry App World's global expansion to help spur growth outside North America – the US and Canada presently account for about 70% of the firm's revenues.
For more on BlackBerry App World's growth:
- read this Electronista article
