20m app downloads for Belgian developer Pico Brothers

120 apps across Ovi Store, Android and iOS lead to big milestone - but how much money?

Belgian developer Pico Brothers has become the latest firm to join the 20 Million Downloads club, racking up the milestone from its 80 apps on Nokia's Ovi Store and 40 across Android and iPhone.

Nokia's Conversations Blog delivers the news, along with a short interview with the two-man team, which has been developing mobile apps since April 2009.

The developer releases a mixture of paid and free ad-supported apps, including Big Sound Buttons, Flashlight Extreme and Revolver.

"Everything we do makes money," claims the developer. "The conversion rate from free to paid apps is pretty good. We price everything very cheap – normally £1 – so if you find the app remotely useful or entertaining, and you’ve got operator billing, then you’re going to convert. A lot of our apps are very simple and mainstream, so they do big volumes – and that’s when the advertising revenues on the free apps start to stack up."

Pico Brothers admits that a lot of its apps are simple - its doorbell app took one hour to develop - and advises rivals that keeping things stripped down can be a route to success.