According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, the mobile application and mobile application development market can look forward to big growth over the next four years. The firm predicts strong growth from $21.4 Billion in 2013 to $60 Billion in 2018.

“In terms of downloads,” David MacQueen, Executive Director, Apps and Media Research states, “Google Play overtook Apple App Store in 2012, but iOS remains ahead in terms of revenue. We anticipate that Google Play will finally overtake the Apple App Store in terms of revenues in 2016.”

When we look at the different platforms, “Apple’s App Store and Google Play will continue to be the dominant distribution channels, but Windows Phone Store and Amazon Appstore are showing strong growth in the battle for third place,” a report summary reads.

While Android and iOS will continue to dominate, Windows Phone appears to be the operating system on the rise as IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker forecasts growth in Windows Phone’s global market share from 3.9% this year to 7% in 2018.

“We have seen a definite uptick in the number of companies asking us to build apps for the Windows Mobile platform,” states Kimber Johnson, Managing Director, Pacific App Design, “While it definitely has been a two platform race the past couple years, the growth Windows Mobile is making is translating into more brands asking us to build apps for the platform.”