Android's market share of app downloads in Q2 reaches 44% surpassing the 31% share of iOS

According to ABI Research, the Android Market is busier these days than the App Store. During the second quarter-the latest time period for which data is available-Android devices accounted for 44% of all app downloads surpassing the 31% market share belonging to iOS flavored devices. Research associate Lim Shiyang credits the open source nature of Android for these results, saying that the free nature of the OS draws more users to devices powered by Android and supports the growth of third party and multi-platform application stores. That, in turn, allows Android to capture the top spot for app downloads.

Additionally, ABI points to a slowdown in the growth of Apple iPhone shipments as another reason for Android's leading market share when it comes to installing apps. During this year's second quarter, growth in shipments of the Apple iPhone slowed to 9% from 15% in the year's first quarter while Android growth reached 36% in Q2, up from the 20% improvement it scored in the first quarter. The installed base of Android users leads those using iOS by 2.4 to 1. According to ABI, this will increase to 3 to 1 by 2016.

It isn't all bad news for the gang at Cupertino. Dan Shey, practice director, mobile services for ABI noters that while Android leads in total mobile app downloads, Apple still has the most app downloads per user. Shy points out that, "Apple’s superior monetization policies attracted good developers within its ranks, thus creating a better catalog of apps and customer experience.”

App downloads are expected to total 29 billion for this year compared with 9 billion downloaded in 2010. The main reason for the surge in app downloads according to ABI, is the huge increase in smartphone usage world-wide. For example, the number of  smartphone users globally is expected to grow 46% this year.

source: ABIResearch via IntoMobile