More than half of smartphone app downloads in 2013 will be Android

Google's Android will account for 58% of app downloads during 2013, with Apple's iOS accounting for just 33%, predicts ABI Research. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Windows Phone and Blackberry are way behind with 4% and 3% respectively.

However, when it comes to tablet apps, iPad's take the lead with a whopping 75% of the 14 billion apps downloaded running on iOS. In comparison, Android will account for 17%, excluding Kindle Fire. Amazon tablets will account for 4% and Windows tablets just 2% of the year's downloads.

"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 Aapo Markkanen, Senior analyst with ABI Research.

"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. It is worth remembering that Android's so-called fragmentation problem isn't only a problem, but that it has a certain upside as well,"

A recent Gartner study forecasts that global app revenues will reach the heady heights of $25 billion this year - a 62% rise on 2012.

Tags: Android, forecast, iOS, mobile apps, mobile operating system, smartphone, tablet apps