iPhone apps "will hit 300,000" next year

A report from market research company reckoned that by the end of next year there will be 300,000 iPhone applications.

And Android applications will also surge by a factor of five, think the analysts. Smartphones and the Apple iPad tablet will be popular little items next year.

IDC made a number of predictions including modest IT spending growth in 2010, and a rise in the number of acquisitions in the industry.

The modest growth worldwide will amount to 3.2 percent, taking the industry back to 2008 spending levels amounting to $1.5 trillion. Hardware, software and services will grow by between two to four percent.

And emerging markets including China, India, Russia and Brazil will help drive next year’s spend.

Mobile devices will increasingly compete with PCs for both developers and for people using them.

And there’s more cloud ahead in 2010, thinks IDC.