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July 30, 2012

New Appcelerator-IDC Survey Points to Ongoing iOS Dominance Among Mobile Developers

A newly released Appcelerator-IDC survey strongly indicates that Apple’s iOS platform will continue to be the mobile developer world’s favorite target for mobile app development. The available data from Appcelerator shows mobile platform developer preferences for the years 2010 – 2012, and as the accompanying chart shows, Apple continues to have very little to worry about – and to a fair degree that is also true of Android – which has notably declined year over year relative to Apple.

Windows Phone 7.5 shows a similar dip, however the number here is likely not very reliable. Windows 8 tablet interest, which is being measured for the first time by the survey, suggests that Windows 8 is poised to spike up. When the survey is next run we will very likely see – given its very close ties to “big Windows” - a significant gain in Windows Phone 8 developer interest.

Outside of the big three, the Kindle Fire platform (technically it is Android, but with enough differences to maintain separation from Android itself) continues to gain in developer interest, while Research in Motion falls ever deeper into somnambulance.

There is an interesting correlation here between the Appcelerator-IDC findings, and the findings from a newly released Strategy Analytics report on the market share of shipping mobile devices by platform for Q2 2012. The Strategy Analytics report points to cumulative Android market share dipping from 61 percent to 56 percent, while Apple increased its share to 33 percent, up 10 percent from Q2 2011.

We recently investigated the overall financial and market impact of Apple missing its iPhone sales targets for its fiscal Q3 2012 quarter, where we strongly suggested that the impact would be inconsequential. As we write, Apple’s stock has already rebounded $11.24 today, and has recovered over $25 since its brief sell off last week. Pent up demand for the highly anticipated new iPhone will no doubt continue to drive developer interest in iOS, much as it will ultimately drive Apple’s stock price and overall Apple market share higher.



Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem? Then be sure to attend the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo provides unmatched networking opportunities and a robust conference program representing the mobile ecosystem. The conference not only brings together the best and brightest in the wireless industry, it actually spans the communications and technology industry. For more information on registering for the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo click here.

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Tony Rizzo has spent over 25 years in high tech publishing and joins MobilityTechzone after a stint as Editor in Chief of Mobile Enterprise Magazine, which followed a two year stretch on the mobile vendor side of the world. Tony also spent five years as the Director of Mobile Research for 451 Research. Before his jump into mobility Tony spent a year as a publishing consultant for CMP Media, and served as the Editor in Chief of Internet World, NetGuide and Network Computing. He was the founding Technical Editor of Microsoft Systems Journal.

Edited by Brooke Neuman


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