IPad Still Number One with Developers; Amazon Fire Favorite Android Tablet
The Q4 Appcelerator/IDC Mobile Developer Report is out and the results may surprise you. After surveying 2,160 Appcelerator developers from around the world they discovered that Amazon’s Kindle Fire has taken the top spot as the most popular Android tablet, an honor that had come to belong to the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
In less shocking news, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 has moved in ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS.
The safest bet for developers still seems to be iOS. With 91% of developers surveyed indicating they are very interested in designing apps for Apple’s iPhone and 88% eager to write for the iPad, the top spot seems to be an easy hold for now.
Scott Ellison, the VP Mobile & Connected Consumer Platforms at IDC was quick to discuss these results, indicating that “the third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows, driven largely by the Microsoft / Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800. Amazon has shown exceptional early success in appealing to developers with the Kindle Fire, showing that price and differentiation are keys to competing in the crowded Android tablet space, rather than simply chasing the iPad market.”
Developers weren’t without concerns over the Kindle Fire, indicating that “fragmentation and lack of features like camera and geo-location” were at the top of that list.
The report also indicated that interest in connected TV app development is deteriorating, HTML 5 development efforts continue to be strong and sought to define the ‘mobile relationship lifecycle’ with objectives identified as belonging to 4 different areas: reach, engagement, loyalty, and monetization.
Appcelerator bills themselves as “a new platform and services company that is enabling Web developers to build intuitive, content-rich applications for Mobile, Tablet and Desktop platforms.” Founded in 2006, Appcelerator enjoys backing by little known companies like eBay, Storm Ventures and Sierra Ventures. They claim that with their help, developers can cut their work in half and increase revenue by way or reducing costs.