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Apple's dominance in the mobile app download market will be eroded over the coming years as rivals Android, Symbian and Blackberry make inroads, independent technology analyst Ovum said in its latest Mobile Application Download Forecast 2009-15 report.

It is estimated that Apple owns a massive 67 percent of the mobile application market share in 2009, despite claiming just 14% of the overall smartphone installed base. Ovum forecasts that in 2015, Apple's app download number will likely dwindle to a modest 22 percent.

"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. Over the forecast period other smartphone platforms gain ground and by 2015 the landscape looks very different in terms of market share," said Michele Mackenzie, Ovum Principal Analyst and Report Co-Author.

The report also states that mobile application downloads generated by non-operator application stores will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 41 percent globally over the next five years, with total downloads almost reaching 21.3 billion by 2015. Ovum expects Asia Pacific to experience immense growth, with its share of the global market set to quadruple from 5 percent in the early phase to 20 percent by 2015. This growth will be driven by growing penetration of smartphones in the region coupled with the increased availability of applications with local relevance.