In its report, 'Why the web versus application debate is irrelevant to your mobile product strategy', Forrester said product strategists were increasingly looking to make a choice between apps and browser-based solutions.

Report author Thomas Husson wrote: "They treat this as a question of faith, saying either browser technologies will prevail in the future or that apps are the future of the internet."

The reality is that consumers are using both, he said. "The more consumers access the mobile internet, the more they download apps and vice versa."

For its report, Forrester took account of the research completed through the European Technographics Consumer Technology Online Survey, Q4 2010. This survey questioned 14,363 adults in the seven markets of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Respondents were all members of the Ipsos-MORI online panel.

Forrester said there is a clear correlation between mobile internet and app usage. More than half of European consumers who download apps at least monthly also access the internet via their mobile phones at least daily. And, the more frequently consumers access the internet via their mobile phones, the more likely they are to download apps at least monthly. "In short, heavy app users are also heavy mobile web users," said Forrester.