IDC released its 2010 predictions for the IT and telecommunications markets, predicting that mobile devices will increasingly compete with PCs as the primary client platform for developers and users.

By the end of 2010, IDC anticipates more than 1 billion mobile devices will be accessing the Internet thanks to the popularity of smartphones and the arrival of Apple's iPad tablet computer. The growth of mobile devices will spur huge growth in mobile applications with the number of iPhone apps expected to triple to 300,000 and Android apps growing by a factor of five or more.

In general, IDC predicts that worldwide IT spending will grow by 3.2 percent and return the industry to 2008 spending levels of around $1.5 trillion.

"In last year's predictions, we talked about how a slow global economy would act like a pressure cooker on the IT market, speeding the development and adoption of new technologies and business models," said Frank Gens, senior vice president and chief analyst at IDC. "What's different about 2010 is that the economic recovery will release some of the pressure on spending, enabling a number of transformational tipping points to be reached in a year of economic upswing."

For more:
- see this IDC release

Related Articles:
The all-Android show
Analyst: AT&T to lose iPhone exclusivity in mid-2010
JD Powers names iPhone No. 1 in business smartphone user satisfaction
New iPhone 3GS hacked in two minutes
Apple: 5.2 million iPhones sold in 3Q; enterprise sales ramping up