BlackBerry: only 20% of marketplace apps are Android-based

BlackBerry took the wraps off their new BB10 platform back in January, and they recently announced that over 30,000 apps had been added to the marketplace since its launch. This brought the grand total of apps to 100,000, but many have wondered about inflation as a result of the BlackBerry's Android emulation engine.

In speaking with AllThingsD, BlackBerry VP Martyn Mallick, clarified just how many BB10 apps are Android-based, claiming that they make up around 20% of the marketplace. This 1-in-5 number is greater than the company would like, but Mallick did mention that those same developers have been sticking around, creating native BlackBerry apps that allow them to take better advantage of the device's selling power.

Overall, BlackBerry has undertaken many strategies in order to entice developers, including guaranteeing $10,000 in sales for certain qualified apps. In addition, BlackBerry has promised to use only 2 screen sizes in their upcoming product lines, hoping to prevent fragmentation and make life easier for developers. Unfortunately, even with all those incentives, applications such as Netflix and Instagram are still missing from the marketplace, and BlackBerry is far away from catching up to Android or iOS.

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