The dominance of the iPhone in the mobile app download market will be eroded over the coming years as rivals Android, Symbian and BlackBerry make inroads, Ovum has forecast, reports "Bank Systems & Technologies (http://macosg.me/2/i0).

A new report by the research group says that mobile application downloads generated by non-operator application stores will grow by a compound annual growth rate of around 41% globally over the next five years, with total downloads almost reaching 21.3 billion by 2015. That’s up from 2.69 billion in 2009.

According to Ovum estimates, Apple generated 67% of all smartphone app downloads in 2009, despite claiming just 14% of the overall smartphone installed base. On the other hand, Symbian commanded a 49% share of the smartphone installed base but only generated an estimated 9% of the total applications downloads market. The report states in 2015 Apple will generate a relatively modest 22% of app downloads, compared to 19% for Symbian.

"The iPhone generates the lion’s share of smartphone app downloads but over the period we will see the share of application downloads becoming more equally distributed," Michele Mackenzie, principal analyst at Ovum and report co-author told "Bank Systems and Technologies." "Over the forecast period other smartphone platforms gain ground and by 2015 the landscape looks very different in terms of market share.”