Since Apple's launch of the original iPad in 2010, users of the wildly popular tablet have downloaded a staggering 3 billion apps, according to technology research firm ABI Research.
Apple iPad apps now account for 19 percent of all cumulative downloads by Apple users, ABI said. It took the iPhone two years to reach that level of downloads, while the iPad hit that mark in just a year and a half.
In contrast to the billions of apps racked up by iPad users, those with Android-powered tablets have only downloaded around 440 million apps, according to ABI. To its benefit, the iPad has a greater quantity of device-specific apps compared to those offered for Android tablets. As of the third quarter of 2011, there were 120,000 apps published specifically for the iPad.
Apps for the iPad, meanwhile, are often considered of higher quality than those available for Android tablets, ABI said. And many tablets in the market are still using older versions of the Android operating system, so users can't take advantage of the latest and greatest Android apps available.
"In terms of hardware, the iPad device still offers much more compared to the current crop of tablets in the market," Dan Shey, practice director of mobile services at ABI, said in a statement." Android is currently being used on many low end tablets that do not offer experiences anywhere near the iPad and this dampens the download momentum for users."
ABI researchers, however, expect Android app downloads to increase as manufacturers adopt Google's latest mobile OS, Android 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich.
Meanwhile, the number of overall app downloads skyrocketed after the holidays as users unwrapped their new gadgets. According to data from mobile analytics firm Flurry, people downloaded 1.2 billion iOS and Android apps between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, a 60 percent increase compared to earlier in the month.
For more, see PCMag's 100 Best iPad apps slideshow below.