That's what MIT's Technology Review predicts in a blog post titled "Why Mobile Apps Will Soon be Dead". The reason for such a prediction? Web apps.

Web apps download on one's device through a web browser, and allow offline access to their content-- whether it's a game, news or any sort of utility. We can assure you this does work, but don't let anyone else know that infamous time waster Angry Birds is now available for free on the Chrome browser. 

One has to keep in mind apps are are what make smartphones so attractive to customers.

Thus, app store batt will not be the one taking place between the iOS and Android platforms, but the one MIT predicts of smartphones vs HTML5-capable browsers. Former Google engineer Brian Kennish puts it like this:

"One word: distribution. There are 2 billion web users versus 50 million iOS users."

The only web app-specific problem Kennish finds is their getting access to device-specific features-- but MIT also says that "with web apps, developers could code once and be reasonably confident their app will work on any object... with a standards-compliant browser." Surely an enticing prospect for time- and resources-deprived developers. 

Will, therefore, as Kennish predicts, the native app go the way of the dodo? Perhaps, but only if developers will make money selling web apps as opposed to smartphone apps. Is this why Google charges a mere 5% commission on Web App Store sales? 

Go Why Mobile Apps Will Soon be Dead

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26778/