Google has paid more money to Android developers already this year than in the whole of 2012, Larry Page, the search giant’s CEO, revealed in a conference call yesterday.

He added that more than 50 billion apps have been downloaded from Google Play since launch, up from the 48 billion announced in May 2013.

Describing the momentum behind the Android and Chrome platforms as “tremendous”, he noted: “In our annual I/O Developer Conference in May, I was astounded, we had over 1 million people tuning in live just to watch our developer keynote.”

Consumers from more than 190 countries now download apps from Google Play everyday, Page said.

“With hindsight, Android and Chrome were no brainers. At the time, they were big bets. The momentum across these platforms is tremendous,” the executive continued.