The mobile apps marketplace will top a staggering 25 billion downloads by 2015, according to new research by Juniper Research. To put that in further perspective: the estimate is that smart phone sales will reach 1 billion annually by the same period. That’s an impressive number of downloads per handset user.

To reach 25 billion downloads the growth rate would have to jump nearly ten-fold on last year’s 2.6 billion. Right now the market is dominated Apple’s iPhone but, with the recent news by Android’s AndroLib that it has reached 100,000 apps and 1 billion downloads, it is projected that Android devices could surpass the iPhone’s market share by the end of the year.

The money involved in the app marketplace is another growth factor. In 2009, Apple made $2.4 billion through app downloads, with an average price per app being $3.10. In a neat infographic, onlinemba.com sums up what’s happening in the marketplace right now:

Digital downloads aren’t limited to apps, though. Amazon on Monday reported Kindle e-book downloads now outpace hardcover sales. In the past four weeks the number has risen to  180 e-books for every 100 hardcovers.

Apps are only a small testament for our drive to suck up more digital media, all the time. But with the staggering growth of the market, don’t count out apps as being the next major reorganization of the way we work, play and communicate online or wirelessly.