Tablets will account for 35 per cent of revenue generated by mobile apps in 2013 and will surpass smartphones by 2018, according to ABI Research.

The firm’s Mobile Applications Research Service forecasts that apps will generate revenue of $25.2 billion in 2013, with smartphones contributing $16.4 billion compared to $8.8 billion for tablets.

Around two-thirds (65 per cent) of the total will come from iOS devices and 27 percent from Android.

The proportion of app revenue generated by tablets will increase, almost matching smartphones in 2017 and surpassing them the year after, when combined revenue will hit $92 billion, ABI said.

“The dynamic is quite straightforward. The larger screen makes apps and content look and feel better, so there are more lucrative opportunities,” said ABI Research senior analyst Aapo Markkanen.

The arrival of low-cost tablets will soon offset the larger installed base of smartphones, Markkanen added, while tablets will increasingly address demographic groups that have so far been underserved by apps, such as children and the elderly.