Several sources have issued reports saying that the App Store has reached the 10,000 application landmark. According to others' calculations, the venue still needs a few more to top that figure, considering all the rejected applications.

The news was undoubtedly sparked by listings from iPhone app trackers such as Apptism. Currently tracking 10,353 iPhone Apps, Apptism is the only iPhone app activity aggregator, according to a post on their website, that tracks every single app in the App Store. A rough estimate of theirs is that anywhere from 50 to 100 iPhone apps are being added and updated daily on the App Store. According to the site, it's nearly impossible to keep up with all the updates and releases.

The fact that 10,000 apps have been released isn't questionable. What is questionable is the number of apps actually available for download today. Application submissions may count well over 10,000. With Apple known for rejecting, or removing (after approval) numerous apps for reasons sometimes invisible to the naked eye, an AppShopper report dating November 29 said there were some 9,676 apps that one could download at the time being.

However, refreshing three iPhone app trackers' web pages, once every 2 hours today, we were startled to see four and even five apps being added between reloading the pages. Those apps were approved by Apple!

AppShopper doesn't deny that the 10,000 mark is just around the corner, also offering a full breakdown of the apps per category. Have a look below.

24.0% Games;
11.6% Entertainment;
10.9% Utilities;
7.8% Education;
5.6% Productivity;
5.4% Lifestyle;
5.3 %Healthcare and Fitness;
5.1% Books;
4.6% Reference;
4.0% Travel;
3.4% Sports;
3.3% Music;
2.9% Navigation;
2.8% Business;
2.6% Finance;
1.8% Social Networking;
1.5% News;
1.3% Photography;
0.5% Weather.

Needless to point out, Apple itself is likely to issue an official report on the feat, should the 10,000 milestone be this close, so we'll be keeping an eye out on their press room this week.