The average app built on a more niche app platform – such as BlackBerry, Symbian or Windows Phone 7 – has a better chance of being downloaded than those for the more hyped iOS and Android, according to a survey from research2guidance.

Apps in Nokia’s Ovi store were two and a half times more popular in terms of download numbers than apps on Apple’s App Store in Q2 2011, according to its latest smartphone application report.

research2guidance puts this trend down to less competition on these platforms, combined with a sufficiently large user base to generate a significant downloads numbers.

Symbian has the highest potential user base according to the company. Even though its users are less active than “iOS’s heavy downloaders,” the Ovi Store contains less than a tenth of the number of App Store apps. This means it “still generates significant download volumes to Symbian publishers.”

The market for Symbian apps looks worth pursuing for the foreseeable future: Nokia recently launched three new smartphones using the next generation Symbian Belle OS and has said it will continue to develop the platform despite a gradual shift towards Windows Phone 7.

Not all niche app stores are faring so well though. LG World and Samsung’s app store are struggling due to their user base and number of applications being too low.

In terms of average download numbers for the major app stores, Android Market is close behind Apple App Store, with the average Android app attracting 5 percent fewer users than the average iOS app.