According to a new study conducted by researcher Chetan Sharma of Chetan Sharma Consulting, the global market for mobile applications will likely witness an unprecedented ‘explosion’ over the coming two years – with the sales of mobile apps expected to touch a whopping $17.5 billion in 2012.

The study, conducted on the behalf of the world’s second-ranking app store, Getjar, further projected that the mobile app download will increase by almost 92 percent year-on-year by 2012 – to nearly 50 billion from the last year download figures of 7 billion.

Furthermore, the study – which shows that the number of app stores has grown from 4 before 2008 to 48 now - also suggests that though Apple’s App Store is currently the dominant player in the app market; its position would probably be challenged by the emerging app stores from BlackBerry, Microsoft, Nokia, Google, and Samsung.

With the study indicating that feature phones require a due consideration amid the rush to create apps for smartphones, Getjar founder and CEO Ilja Laurs said: “In terms of consumer mindshare and revenue share, feature phones represent 90% of the global market compared to 10% for smartphones and data cards.”

Furthermore, the study essentially dismisses the importance of Web apps, saying that they fail to “match the performance of a native app” which boast richer functionality and a much more enhanced experience than a browser.