Big number is big

Today Apple announced that two billion iPhone and iPod Touch applications have been downloaded on the iTunes App Store.

Currently the App Store contains more than 85,000 applications covering just about every possible subject, from Getting Things Done apps, to tower defense, and just about anything else you could—or couldn’t—ever think of. And yes dear cynics, the vast majority of these apps are indeed crap.

Though the App Store has passed two billion downloads, Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that growth is still accelerating.

“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,” he said.

“The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

Prices in the App Store run the spectrum from free to more than $100. Today’s top five most profitable apps include CNN Mobile ($1.99), MobileNavigator North America ($89.99), Dungeon Hunter ($6.99), RedLaser ($1.99) and Madden NFL 10 by EA Sports ($9.99).

It’s exciting to see the mobile app market mature and hit these kinds of numbers, regardless of the platform. Hopefully that growth will continue, especially in light of Apple’s mission to scare away top developers with its poor submission policies and blatant developer mistreatment.