Android Market is really beginning to take off. It received 9,000 new apps in March alone and now, it has crossed the 50,000 apps mark.

This figure comes from AndroLib – a 3rd party Android Market Tracker, since Google doesn’t officially disclose the total app count. Of course, the Apple App Store is still the big daddy of all app stores. Moreover, AndroLib tracks over ten different Android Markets. So, not all fifty thousand apps will be available in a single Android Market.

Nevertheless, the accelerating growth of Android further highlights the fact that Google is succeeding in at least throwing some challenge to the Apple iPhone. With dozens of new handsets from various manufacturers in the pipeline, the future looks bright for Android.