Here at Strategy Analytics we love apps. We track the top apps in our database, AppTRAX. We forecast downloads and revenue. We track app store competitiveness. We survey developers. Most of my waking hours – and sadly a few sleeping ones – are spent considering the future of the app ecosystem.

So, it should come as no surprise that we also track app availability. But tracking app availability is tricky because it is important not to frame the conversation as the store with the most apps is the bestsimply due to its massive virtual shelves alone. In fact, the debate between quality and quantity is complicated. There is a fine line between having enough high quality apps and assuring users that your platform is a priority for developers.

And that is the purpose of our Quarterly App Marketshare Tracker. To use data to answer important questions such as:

• Which platforms are gaining momentum?
• Which app categories are growing or slowing?
• Which new devices are developers interested in supporting?

The result of collecting apps available each month has allowed us to frame the conversation for the remainder of 2012 in the context of three well known battles. The most recent report  App Market Share Tracker Q1 2012: Apple and Android continue the battle for dominance:

• Apple versus Android for the number 1 title. Despite the launch of the new iPad late in the quarter Android continued to gain on Apple’s still massive lead adding 81,000 apps to iPhones 48,000 and iPad’s 34,000.
• BlackBerry versus Windows Phone for third ecosystem. Microsoft has officially pulled ahead of BlackBerry in catalogue size and apps added in the quarter. With Windows 8 and BlackBerry 10 looming the stakes are getting ever larger
• Nook versus Amazon for the tablet of choice. After the Fire flamed in its first quarter the number of apps slowed considerable this quarter but the Nook took little advantage of Amazon as only added 1,600 apps.

As developer are forced to choose between ecosystem, within ecosystem, and determine which devices they want to support doing whatever is possible today to woo developers is essential to building robust ecosystems full of high quality apps, cross-platform experiences, and providing a long term value proposition for consumers and developers.