The annual volume of smartphone app downloads will reach 56 billion this year, ABI Research’s updated market forecasts show. Of different OS platforms, Google’s Android will account for 58% of the total app downloads, with Apple’s iOS commanding an annual share of 33%. Microsoft’s Windows Phone will finish the year with a slice of slightly smaller than 4%, with BlackBerry trailing it with 3%.

In the meantime, mobile users will download around 14 billion tablet apps during the year. In the tablet segment, iPad’s lead as a development platform remains formidable, as 75% of the amount will be apps running on iOS. For comparison, Android will represent an annual share of 17%, excluding Kindle Fire. Downloads to Amazon’s tablets will warrant a market share of 4%, while around 2% of the total will be for Windows tablets.

Source: Allied Business Intelligence, Inc.