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Based on Gartner’s report, about 2.5 billion applications were downloaded worldwide in 2009, generating a total revenue of US$4.2 billion. Both figures are set to rise significantly in 2010: the total number of downloads will top 4.5 billion, boosting the revenue to US$6.7 billion. Meanwhile, smartphone consumers around the world are expected to spend US$6.2 billion on mobile applications.

Among all downloads, free applications will account for 82 percent by the end of the ongoing year, and will further climb up to 87 percent in 2013. While these applications are offered at no cost to consumers, developers can still make money by various means: charging for other things within the app, the sales of physical goods ordered or purchased through the app, or more often, in-app advertising.

By 2013, these advertising-sponsored mobile applications will represent approximately 25 percent of the total revenue generated by mobile app stores, says the research firm. By that time, the total amount of downloads in mobile application stores will reach a staggering 21.6 billion, registering almost US$29.5 billion of revenue. Games, mobile shopping, social networking, utilities and productivity tools will continue to be the main driving force of the rapid growth.

Apparently, Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch is the leading figure of the industry. After its opening, several players like Google Android Market, BlackBerry App World, Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Palm App Catalog also joined the arena to battle for a share. Although the Android platform is steadily gaining popularity, the App Store, which just passed the 3 billion downloads mark, is still unmatched in terms of the number of applications and downloads.

"Application stores will be a core focus throughout 2010 for the mobile industry and applications themselves will help determine the winner among mobile devices platforms," commented Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. It appears that the competition among developers and app store vendors will continue to intensify in years to come.