Android to Account for Majority of Smartphone App Downloads in 2013

ABI Research recently released its updated market forecasts, including that of the smartphone app market. According to this most recent report, the annual volume of smartphone app downloads will reach 56 billion this year, led largely by Google's popular Android OS.

Indeed, Android will account for 58 percent of total smartphone app downloads in 2013, followed by Apple's iOS with 33 percent. Microsoft's Windows Phone will beat out BlackBerry to account for just under 4 percent of downloads, with BlackBerry close behind at 3 percent.

In terms of tablet apps, mobile users are expected to download close to 14 billion in total this year, with the iPad leading definitively, accounting for 75 percent of this amount. Excluding the Amazon Kindle Fire line, Android tablets will account for 17 percent of app downloads, while Amazon's tablets will make up 4 percent. Windows tablets, meanwhile, will make up a mere 2 percent of the total.

Due to the platform's large user base and "generally improved conditions" for app building, ABI Research expects that more developers will adopt an Android-first strategy in 2013. Still, though, cracking the tablet market won't be any easier.

"Arguably the most pressing issue for Google is how much of this handset momentum will ultimately trickle down to tablets, where Apple is holding the fort remarkably well," said ABI Research senior analyst Aapo Markkanen in a statement. "We would argue that in this context Google will actually benefit from the efforts by Amazon, since the presence of Kindle Fire adds a lot of critical ‘code mass’ to Android’s proposition as a platform for tablet applications."

ABI Research also recently released its "Next Generation Optimization, DPI, and Policy" Competitive Assessment, identifying Bytemobile, Sandvine and Broadhop/Cisco as overall leaders in this area.

Meanwhile, the research firm's latest Smart Grids and Smart Cities Research report states that spending by utilities transitioning to smart grid capabilities reached $23.68 billion last year.