• December 8, 2008

iPhone users have downloaded a whopping 300 million applications to date, according to an Apple ad that ran on the back of The New York Times business section on Friday.

Highlighted by Jim Goldman in his Tech Check blog on CNBC.com, that total is 100 million more than just six weeks ago, when Apple said the day after its Oct. 21 earnings conference call it expected its 200 millionth app downloaded.

"So all that talk of a 'bubble' in apps demand was just that, talk! Experts expected an initial big shot in the arm, and that demand would trail off as the weeks passed by," wrote Goldman, CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief.

He cited Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who predicts that Apple's App Store will claim 30% of what will be a $1 billion mobile apps market next year. Despite his high expectations for iPhone apps, Munster last week lowered his price target on Apple from $250 to $235 because of the contracting U.S. economy.--Mark Walsh