20 Billion Apps Downloaded Each Year by 2014

Mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular not only among users, but among mobile phone makers as well, and a wide range of new software solution portals has seen the light of day recently, a move that, according to Juniper Research, will drive mobile apps to new levels of downloads. The firm's projections point towards a number of almost 20 billion downloads that will be registered each year by 2014.

The research firm states that not only will the availability of numerous app storefronts drive to the larger number of downloads, but that the increase in the number of applications will also be a beneficial factor for the rise. Moreover, another important factor is the presence of more and more app portals that offer solutions for mass market handsets, while the interfaces of the app stores are also highly appealing.

There is a wide range of mobile phone vendors, OS providers and operators that have launched their own application portals, hot on the heels of Apple's App Store, which has seen a huge success since launched a year ago, reaching one billion downloads back in April. Moreover, more companies are expected to follow the trend, which means that users will have a wide range of storefronts to choose from. The report can be found here.

Juniper Research also announced the fact that it had granted the first Future Mobile Awards for Mobile Applications title. According to the firm, the award is meant for companies that have managed to make great advancements in their area during the previous year, while also being expected to see a great performance on the market in the future. The first Future Mobile Awards for Mobile Applications has been granted to acrossair for the “Nearest Tube,” an ingenious, augmented-reality app for iPhone 3GS.

“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded the Gold award for Mobile Apps by Juniper Research, a number of late nights went in to creating this application and it’s rewarding for the whole team to be recognised for the work they put in by an organisation such as Juniper. Everyone in the technology landscape has heard of Juniper Research and it’s a great accolade for all our techies and designers in the team to receive a Gold award for our nearest tube app,” Chetan Damani, co-founder of acrossair, stated.