Mobile applications provider GetJar has released the results of a study predicting that the market for mobile device software programs will rocket to $17.5 billion within three years.

The commissioned study predicts that downloads of mobile applications will reach nearly 50 billion in 2012, up from slightly more than 7 billion in 2009. This represents a year-on-year growth rate of about 92 percent.

The report finds that the mobile applications market really took off after Apple introduced the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPod touch in 2008. In fact, there are so many mobile applications in the marketplace today that they outnumber applications available for desktop computers.

'With the consumer appetite for mobile apps rocketing, the opportunities for developers are huge,” said Ilja Laurs, CEO and founder, GetJar, in a release. “This report signifies a battle for survival of the fittest among app stores worldwide - with app revenue and growth opportunities growing significantly. There is no way that this many app stores will survive in the long term and while the value of the global app economy is set to be astoundingly high by 2012, we think only a few app stores will share this revenue.'

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