Thanks to the popularity of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4, App Store downloads are up 61 percent this year over 2010. According to Gene Munster, a tech analyst for investment firm Piper Jaffray, iOS users are downloading 32.3 million apps per day at an average of 83 apps per user, up from 51 apps last year.

More good news for Apple: Users are also paying 14 percent more for App Store apps, with the average selling price for iOS apps at $1.48, up from $1.29 last year.

Munster believes that the introduction of the iPad and Verizon iPhone are partially responsible for this boost in downloads and selling prices. This year, the average selling price of the top 30 paid iPad apps is $6.32, up 36 percent from 2010. Munster expects App Store revenue to generate $4.2 billion this year and grow to $7.7 billion next year; hepredicts users will download an average of 94 apps per device by then.

“We see a virtuous cycle of Apple’s robust app ecosystem adding features and functionality to the iOS devices, which drives sales, which makes the ecosystem more robust, which encourages more developers to write apps, and the cycle repeats itself,” he says.

The App Store, which supplies 425,000 free and paid applications for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, just celebrated ^[1] its 15 billionth download last week.

Read more from Mashable ^[2].

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Courtesy: Apple Insider