Nokia said that there are now more than 50,000 apps available from its Ovi Store, with more than 6.5 million downloads per day taking place. This indicates steady growth from last month, when it said its app total was 48,000, with 6 million downloads made per day – in April 2011, the download number was 5 million. In a statement, the company said that the growth has been driven by “increased demand for apps from the approximately 225-million strong Symbian customer base.”  However, the company has identified Symbian as a legacy platform, as it transitions to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 for its high-end devices.

Nokia also reiterated that it plans to make Qt “core” to its mass-market mobile phones strategy, although it provided no additional details on this. It noted that “for developers, this means a dramatic increase in the distribution and monetisation opportunities for Qt apps.”  While Qt is also supported by Nokia’s Symbian OS and MeeGo smartphones, it will not be supported by Windows Phone 7 – meaning that Nokia does not have an option for developers which will be supported across-the-board.

Last month, Nokia said that 15 of its app developer partners had achieved total downloads in the 10–20 million range, with 5 in the 20–30 million bracket.