Ovum, a research firm, has announced that Android will be overtaking apple in the number of downloaded applications for the first time in the history of the companies.
The research has indicated that by the end of this year, Android will have achieved 8.1 billion downloads, when compared to 6 billion downloads that will have been made through iOS mobile devices manufactured by Apple.
This reflects a tremendous year of growth for both platforms, as last year’s download totals were 1.4 billion for Android and 2.7 billion for Apple iOS devices. It is believed by Ovum that there will be a growth of 144 percent in app downloads this year.
Analyst Nick Dillon from Ovum said that it appears that consumers have a practically “insatiable demand for mobile applications” and that this will be continuing throughout the year as mobile device users worldwide make downloads from app stores.
He went on to say that the long term forecast also looks promising, as consumers appear to be “set to continue to use apps to add new features to their phones and to access their favorite services on the go.”
This increase in Android downloads is in line with the tremendous growth in the platform’s popularity, but among electronics manufacturers and the consumers themselves. A surge of businesses find the free mobile operating system to be highly appealing. Carriers have also been investing in smartphones with the operating system, drawing millions of additional consumers. Because of this, over the last few months, Android has taken an much bigger bite out of the market.