Mobile Developers' Primary Focus On iPhone

Not surprisingly, some 53 percent of developers build applications for the Apple iPhone OS, more than any other platform, according to a recent survey by market strategy group iGR. The next most popular platforms to build for are the RIM BlackBerry OS, Android, and Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5., representing a major shift from iGR's 2009 developer study.

Results of last year's study found that Windows Mobile was by far the most popular OS, the consultancy reported. "It makes sense given what's going on in the market and delays in a more competitive platform from Microsoft,'' noted Matthew Vartabedian, research vice president of iGR, in Austin, Texas. He added though, that Windows Phone 7 OS is coming out around holidays and "looks pretty compelling."

The study found that developers are increasingly building apps for greater numbers of platforms. Currently, the average is 2.4 separate platforms, a number that will increase to 3.4 over the next 12 months, according to the study results.

The survey of 204 U.S.-based developers, conducted in May, also revealed that more than half of respondents who said they are not currently developing for the Apple platform are planning to do so in the next 12 months. Google's Android and BlackBerry OS were the next most popular platforms that programmers said they were planning to start supporting.

The survey also indicated that more than half of the developer respondents consider multi-touch to be an important or essential feature in application development, in response to a question about the five most important factors when choosing a mobile platform. The response is significant, because it make a range of devices inadequate by this standard, iGR stated.

"With each new feature and capability added to smartphone OSes, competition in the space continues to heat up," said Vartabedian. "Providing a solid developer experience and the ability for developers to generate revenue and profits off of the platforms is a key aspect of that competition."

When asked which OEMs provide the best support, respondents overwhelmingly said they like Apple's overall support and technical documentation as well as the type of developer kits and actual tools offered to create the apps, with Android a close second, Vartabedian said.

In terms of the categories of applications being developed, "What we found was the vast major of developers were developing business/productivity apps followed by gaming type of content,'' said Vartabedian.