Android is on its way to surpassing Apple’s number of annual app downloads for the first time, according to UK research firm Ovum.

Android could notch up 8.1 billion downloads this year compared to Apple's predicted 6 billion. Both of these figures represent a huge growth from last year when Apple managed 2.7 billion downloads and Android recorded 1.4 billion.

The total number of app downloads is expected to rise by 144 percent.

App outbreak

"Consumers' seemingly insatiable demand for mobile applications is set to continue this year, with downloads from app stores increasing around the world," said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon.

"The outlook for the longer term is also positive, with consumers set to continue to use apps to add new features to their phones and to access their favourite services on the go."

Android has certainly seen a surge in popularity in recent months, with the accumulative total of downloads hitting 6 billion total in July.

Though that figure may have been some way off Apple’s 15 billion, with the daily activation rate of Android devices set at 550,000 in the same month its not hard to envision the Google lead company catching up to its arch rival.

[source: CNET]