Android-on-Windows App BlueStacks Hits 10 Million Downloads

BlueStacks thought the idea of being able to run Android apps on a desktop computer would be popular with some consumers.

It just didn’t know how many.

But in just over a year, the company has managed to get 10 million downloads of its free, still-in-beta software.

“When we launched the beta we all took bets on where we’d be in one year,” BlueStacks CEO Rosen Sharma told AllThingsD. “No one said 10 million.”

The most optimistic of the startup’s employees thought that the app might manage to get a few hundred thousand downloads.

BlueStacks notes that more people have downloaded its app than have bought most of the Android tablets out there. Of course, downloading a free program and actually using it are two different things.

The company isn’t saying how many people are regularly using the program, though its senior VP of marketing calls the number “spooky high.”

In addition to striking new deals and aiming to get even more downloads, BlueStacks is also working to get to a more recent version of Android. I’m hearing that a Jelly Bean-compatible release of the program is coming soon.