Android Market hits 6 billion downloads

The Android Market has reached 6 billion app downloads, according to a report from analytics firm research2guidance.

Google's mobile OS has grown its market share significantly this year, with recent NPD data suggesting that 52 per cent of all phones sold in America in the last quarter were based on Android.

Despite its increasing popularity with consumers, developers have struggled to make money on the platform, particularly when compared to iOS and the App Store. However, research2guidance's August report suggests that the ecosystem for distributing and monetising apps is showing strong signs of improvement.

As of the end of August, the Android Market contained 277,252 apps, 35 per cent of which cost money to download. The average app currently generates almost $2500 in its lifetime, and sells at $3.13.

Games are the fastest growing app category on the Android Market, accounting for almost a quarter of all downloads, but the most lucrative categories by a considerable distance are weather and business.

The report estimates that developers can improve the profit potential of an app by 900 per cent simply based of which category it occupies.