Tablet owners will become a much more influential group of app users as the installed base for the devices grows, according to analyst house research2guidance.

The firm said the behaviour and preferences of tablet users is already having an impact with the growth in the number of apps and store fronts that cater for them, such as the Archos Appslib for Android tablet apps.

Research has shown that tablet users have different use patterns when it comes to apps than smartphone users, while the growing use of tablets in business will have an impact as it will influence the types of apps being developed.

The number of tablet app consumers increased by 58 million between 2010 and 2011, meaning 8.6 percent of the installed app consumer base are now tablet users. research2guidance projections suggest that the installed base of tablet users will increase by more than 150 percent by 2013.