Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers
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Most developers are coding for Google's Android instead of Apple's IOS
THE MAJORITY OF DEVELOPERS are building apps for Google's Android operating system with fewer coding for Apple's IOS, according to a report by Bluevia and Vision Mobile.
Entitled Developer Economics 2011, the study shows that 67 per cent of developers code for Android, up from 59 per cent in 2010. IOS lags behind at 59 per cent, but that's also up from 50 per cent last year, most likely due to Apple's introduction of the Ipad.
The bad news for Microsoft is that the report found it was not yet "the third horse" in the mobile market race. It discovered that developer mindshare for Windows Phone 7 fell from 39 per cent to 36 per cent, and that it was seen by many developers as not being a commercially viable operating system.
However, while it's not getting developers now, it will in the future, as the "intentshare" for developers intending to work on the platform at some stage puts Microsoft in second place with 32 per cent behind Android's 35 per cent, while Chrome OS pushed IOS into fourth place with 28 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.
Symbian and Java have seen high developer abandonment rates, with 39 per cent of Symbian developers and 35 per cent of Java ME developers intending to jump ship sometime soon. The negative reputation of Java in security circles and the announced death of Symbian when Nokia partnered with Microsoft for Windows Phone 7 explain why developers are parting ways with those systems.
In terms of total apps, Apple is still ahead with close to 400,000 apps as of the first quarter of this year. Android has just under half of that at 176,000. This might be part of the reason why developers are flocking to Android, as they could have already tapped into Apple's market and want to expand into new territory. The sheer growth of Android and the dozens of devices that run it are also likely reasons why it is becoming popular with developers.
Online apps stores are still the primary means of delivering apps to customers, with 45 per cent of developers choosing this option. Over half of these did so due to the enhanced reach of an app store compared to going it alone or using a mobile operator portal.
In terms of payment, the biggest winner is corporate commissions of apps, with roughly half of developers earning income this way. The next best way for bringing in income is pay-per-downloads, while advertising sales and paid upgrades followed in third and fourth place.
However, not all developers are making a killing. A third of those surveyed revealed they made less than $1,000 on their apps, which, given the time software development takes, means that they're losing money instead of making it. µ
Tags: Software
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@DeanWilson
Thanks for pointing that out. I stand corrected.
Although I think that tidbit really was the most interesting part of the report. The Android vs iPhone back and forth drama is predictable. Now a claim that WP7 will come in 2nd over iPhone in developer inderest? - That seems way more news worthy don't you think?
@dajunga The developer intentshare is referenced in paragraph four, where it shows the top four companies, with Android and WP7 taking the top two slots.
The author failed to mention the last 2 paragraphs of page 17 of this report.
"What’s even more telling of the future of the platform race? Our Developer Intentshare Index, tracking the top-eight mobile platforms developers are planning to use. Combined an indication of which platforms developers are abandoning, it shows the ebb end flow of developer interest across mobile platforms.
Despite being a young, six-month old platform, Windows Phone 7 has managed to
establish itself in the number two spot, claiming nearly 35% in the Developer
Intentshare Index. Microsoft’s advantage comes from the strength of the XNA and
Silverlight developer tools and the promise of a substantial user base with the Nokia
deal."
An OS needs developers, even Ballmer knows that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_AP3SGMxxM
"The negative reputation of Java in security circles..."
Con you explain this? Give specific details to what you're referring to?
Buddy,
Where's all your vitriol coming from, Apple steal your first child?
Apple has been calling solutions-oriented software sold "Applications" for decades while Microsoft cornered the warm-fuzzy term "Programs" … and guess which one has marketing oomph now.
It's not because Zune was awesome {not} or that Google {stole} championed some new term it's because Apple is the biggest money game in town. They are the ones executing almost w/o flaw to go from come-back 90's kid to XXIst century techno-money monster.
Look at the mind-numbing iOS profits -vs- Droid income and tell me why anybody else would have claim to the term "App"
I agree that with error rates the statistic are about even. The real measure will be income for those Android developers. Google has abdicated a viable economic proposition for developers to make money on Droid - unless your hitched to their ad-centric world. Even then, your competeing for page views with a growing pool of other devs trying to snap your eyeballs first - this is a losing proposition and why Apple has passed through billion$ to it's developer community and Google puts thumb to nose saying 'neener-neener' to the people essential to making their economy stand out.
Every blog I read with developers shipping dual-platform goods report 1,000:1 income from iOS -v- Android… which begs the question: do we see 1,000 times more Droid phones before income parity? At last, an economic model that allows Americans to 'steal back' those development jobs shipped overseas last decade.
The Google Marketplace store looks like a flea market of ripped-off goods and cloned garbage-ware of the lowest order. That is what you get when you make goods for a freebie-driven crowd and try to create an 'economy' based on 'free'. I am not impressed by the quality and understand why the best and talented developers are shipping Apple goods first and foremost. Google appears happy to see an out-sourced pro-bono developer community spread thinly around the world.
I wanted to believe in Android, but get no traction except minor technolust here & there. I want to make great Apps for a long time AND be able to send my son to college. Droid feels like a dead-end street, not a Marketplace for the public and tech community to enjoy.
What an idiot you are Experienced Engineer. Clearly you're just better than everyone else and Apple are angels.
Had a look at iOS5? Almost all features that make Android great (pulldown notification bar, wireless contact sync to name just 2) are being "invented" by Apple. They even have the audacity to file a patent on the word "app" for Pete's sake.
As someone whose been writing software for a couple decades for startups, I've looked on in shock that borders on a bit of horror as floods of incompetent, ignorant, entitled "engineers" released their masses of crap into the AppStore.
One thing I've noticed about those who have no clue, they generally think Apple is evil, and talk fondly of Android. So, let them all go to work on the ripoff OS, and leave the App Store to those competent enough to produce quality.
iOS users will benefit (it's not like it will ever be the ghetto that mac software was) and iOS developers will benefit by not being crowded out by the shear volume of weekend apps.
Even these incompetent android developers will benefit, when, inevitably, Apple wins their lawsuits, and google is no long able to infringe on Apple's work by shipping android. When that plug is pulled, then these developers will have to run off to some other gold rush, or, you know, stop and learn good design and engineering practices.
Brilliant analysis.
67% said yes to Android & 59% said yes to Apple's iOS.
But actually if you read the data & the margin of error, those numbers are about the same.
What's really interesting is the 36% for WP7 ... which read another way means 74% said no to MicroSoft.
That'd be a truly interesting analysis, instead of regurgitating a close call ...