Mobile app industry to surge in 2011: Gartner

Worldwide mobile application store revenue will almost triple to $15.1 billion this year, boosted by a surge in Google's Android market, research firm Gartner said. Apple created the market for mobile online software stores with the iPhone store in mid-2008, scoring an instant hit that drove smartphone sales and reshaped the way mobile content is delivered. "We estimate that Apple's App Store drove close to nine application downloads out of 10 in 2010 and will remain the single best-selling store ... through 2014, although to a lesser extent, as other stores manage to gain momentum," analyst Carolina Milanesi said.