Nokia CEO: There are now 130,000 apps available for Windows Phone [update]

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop dropped an interesting stat in his keynote at the Mobile World Congress (see our liveblog): the Windows Phone Marketplace now boasts over 130,000 mobile applications for free download and sale, according to the former Microsoft exec.

At the end of last year, Microsoft said Windows Phone racked up 75,000 new applications and 300,000 app updates in 2012.

It’s also worth noting that mid-January 2013, Todd Brix, Senior Director of Windows Phone Apps Team, shared with us that Windows Phone app downloads and developer revenue had doubled in the last 60 days.

There’s always the question if quantity of apps in an app catalogue – rather than the quality of the available applications – matters in this day and age, but it’s an interesting nugget of info nonetheless.

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Update: Microsoft has added further details in a blog post marking the milestone. Brix noted that the Windows Phone Store has experienced its highest increase in activity, with downloads jumping 75%, a 91% increase in paid app revenue and a total of 1 billion transactions. Developer registrations have increased 40,000 in the 90 days since Windows Phone 8 arrived, and there are more than 15,000 apps designed specifically for Windows Phone 8.

The company also announced a new Dev Center app and promotions with Box, Buddy and Photon Cloud for Windows Phone developers.

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