Worldwide smartphone app download volumes will reach 56 billion this year, with Android taking the lion’s share, according to a forecast from ABI Research.

The Google platform will account for 58 per cent of the total, with Apple’s iOS commanding an annual share of 33 per cent. Windows Phone will finish with “a slice of slightly smaller than 4 per cent”, with BlackBerry trailing at 3 per cent.

The company also said that around 14 billion tablet apps will be downloaded. In this space, “iPad’s lead as a development platform remains formidable”, as 75 per cent of these apps will be running on iOS. Android will account for 17 per cent, excluding Kindle Fire, with the Amazon device making up 4 per cent of the total.

Microsoft’s Windows will generate 2 per cent of tablet app volumes.

Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst with ABI Research, said: “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. 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.”