One Developer Is Responsible For 47,000 BlackBerry World Apps

One single developer is responsible for creating more than a third of all applications on BlackBerry World, making a mockery of BlackBerry’s boasts of having more than 100,000 BlackBerry 10 compatible applications.

According to Berryreview, of the 127,000 apps currently listed on the marketplace, 47,000 are attributed to Hong Kong-based S4BB, leading to suggestions that some developers are exploiting the free submission of apps as a promotional tool.

The first 20-30 apps developed by S4BB appear to be legitimate, functional applications but the quality of software rapidly descends into apps that stretch the definition of app, including RSS feeds or wrappers for popular websites.

BlackBerry World apps

Since these are technically applications, it is unclear what BlackBerry can do.

There are plenty of similar questionable apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play, but these are not dominated by one single player, while they have many of the popular mobile applications that are currently absent from BlackBerry World.

The development is somewhat embarrassing for BlackBerry, which announced earlier this month it was considering a number of ‘strategic alternatives’ for the company going forward, including putting itself up for sale.

The news is unlikely to improve the value of its handset division, which is viewed as worthless by some, but has reportedly attracted a number of suitors in the past, including Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo.

Others have suggested the company’s true value lies in its extensive patent portfolio and shrinking, but still valuable, corporate customer base.

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