However, report author Windsor Holden cautioned that players seeking to launch app stores would need to demonstrate sufficient scale to be able to induce developers to provide them with unique content.
"Apple has been able to achieve several billion downloads from a comparatively small handset base because customers are buying the iPhone for the apps," Holden said. "That's not been the case with other handsets."
He said that even with a subscriber base of tens of millions, a player's addressable market is a fraction of that and spread across a variety of operating systems and handsets.
The Juniper report also noted that "freemium" was becoming the prevalent business model. Publishers are increasingly offering apps free at point of sale and subsequently monetizing them via in-app billing of subscription-based services, upgrades to premium content or micropayments for virtual items.
Despite Apple's momentum, a third report by iSuppli forecasts Google to overtake Apple's market share by 2012. iSuppli said Android will be used in 75 million smartphones by 2012, up from five million last year. During the same period, iOS usage will amount to 62 million from 25 million.
This will give Android a 19.4% share of the global market in 2012, up from 2.7% in 2009. In contrast, The iOS will see its share settle at 15.9%% from 13.8%. In 2014, Android's share of global smartphone OS usage will rise to 22.8% while iOS will decline to 15.3%.
Apple's booming iPhone sales have been fueled by the more than 200,000 items in the its App Store. The Android Marketplace is the closest competitor to Apple's App Store but only has a quarter of the number of apps.
iSuppli senior director Jagdish Rebello said that total is rising rapidly, allowing Android to close the gap with its more established rival.