Android - the OS of selection???

Appcelerator.com - Mobile Developer Survey March 2010

When Appcelerator initially surveyed its developer base prior to Apple‟s announcement in January, interest in the platform was overwhelmingly high. At that time, 90% of developers said they were very interested in building an iPad app within the year. Fast forward two months to an updated developer poll taken March 23 - March 25 and we see sustained interest in the platform, but within an increasingly competitive platform landscape. Below is a comparison of iPad developer interest that compares interest pre-announcement in January vs. pre-launch in March. As well, we‟ll look at how the iPad‟s popularity compares against other development platforms that have had their own share of news – good and bad - since January.

Here are the top-level findings:

- Interest in iPad remains strong, but off the wild enthusiasm in January. 80% of developers are very interested in building an iPad app within the first year vs. 90% in January. When asked about overall interest in iPad as a development platform, 53% responded that they were „very interested‟ – third behind iPhone and Android. As a point of reference, Amazon Kindle, surveyed for the first time, has only 12% of developers claiming a similar level of interest in its recently announced SDK.

- Increased competition among mobile platforms shows that Android (81% very interested in the platform) is closing in on iPhone (87%), while Blackberry (43%) and Windows Phone (34%) have doubled and nearly tripled their developer interest numbers, respectively, in just two months.

- At only 14% claiming that they are very interested in WebOS, Palm is clearly seeing waning interest among developers. Symbian clocks in at 16%, while Meego – the recently combined Maemo/Moblin effort by Nokia and Intel – comes in last at just 12%.

- Developers cited eBooks, entertainment/media applications, business applications, medical applications, and education applications as likely candidates for the iPad, consistent with January.

The findings below were taken as Appcelerator‟s iPad beta concludes with a Titanium Tablet SDK officially rolling out on April 5, 2010. Titanium Tablet will enable web developers to build 100% native iPad applications using the skills they have today. These findings show that now, more than ever, companies considering mobile apps need to have a robust cross-platform strategy.