Smartphone app downloads to triple by 2014 - InternetNews.com

The new consumer phenomenon of smartphone app usage is expected to keep growing at a rapid clip, with downloads tripling over the next five years. But with that growth comes challenges for the mobile industry as competition heats up.

Downloads from all app stores will reach 6.67 billion applications by 2014, up from two billion this year, Vikrant Gandhi, analyst at market research firm Frost & Sullivan and author of "An Insight into the U.S. Smartphone Application Storefront Market," told InternetNews.com.