Total mobile application downloads in 2010 numbered nearly 7.9 billion from all stores last year, according to ABI Research. Apple’s App Store is of course the dominant force. “The iPhone interface had notched up more than 5.6 billion accumulated downloads” by the end of 2010, says the research firm.  But ABI gives some arguments about why competition could get more interesting in 2011.

The App Store’s exclusive focus on iOS users “leaves more room for other platform application stores to step up and focus on non-Apple clientele,” said ABI’s research associate Fei Feng Seet. Seet points to how Android smartphone quarterly shipments now surpass those of the iPhone. “Accumulated downloads from both Android Market and third-party platforms surpassed 1.9 billion by the end of 2010” it says. More than 130,000 apps in 48 countries currently feature in the Android Market, approaching half the total in the App Store.

Seet also mentions RIM’s effort to push BlackBerry App World, which lags behind the Apple and Android stores. He says RIM has expanded aggressively to over 100 markets and notes the developer conferences the company has held in the US and Indonesia as further evidence. Accumulated BlackBerry app downloads totalled more than 1 billion by end-2010.

Also in the mix are new entrants into the app store game. The research firm points to mobile operators in general and gives the example of India’s Idea Cellular, which has just launched its Online Application Store. It’s interesting that the app store is coming online just shortly ahead of the actual launch of its 3G network. ABI also points to the role of multi-platform app stores led by GetJar, which has just raised additional funding.