Apple Shines, Google Slows, Microsoft Edges RIM in Battle for Mobile Developers: Report

Appcelerator, developers of a mobile cloud platform for developing
native mobile, desktop, and tablet applications using Web technologies,
and IT analyst firm IDC announced results from a joint survey of more
than 2,700 Appcelerator developers around the world.

The survey reveals
that developer momentum is shifting back toward Apple as fragmentation
and tepid interest in current Android tablets chip away at Google’s
recent gains. The report also reveals the rise of the mobile cloud, a
major trend toward connected mobility that promises to partially
address the issue of fragmentation and radically transform the
relationship between business and customer.

The Appcelerator-IDC Q2 2011 Mobile Developer Report, taken April
11-13, shows that interest in Android has recently plateaued as
concerns around fragmentation and disappointing results from early
tablet sales have caused developers to pull back from their previous
steadily increasing enthusiasm for Google’s mobile operating system.

“While this opens the door a crack for new entrants, nearly two-thirds
of respondents believe that it is not possible for Microsoft, RIM, HP
and Nokia to reverse momentum relative to Apple and Google.
Underscoring the fluidity of the mobile ecosystem and in a peculiar
turn of events, recent simultaneous drops in developer interest in
Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry OSes move Windows Phone 7 ahead of
BlackBerry to claim the third spot in developer interest,” the report
stated.

Google witnessed a plateau in its earlier momentum gains. Reported
interest in Android phones fell two points to 85 percent and Android
tablets fell three points to 71 percent after increasing twelve points
in Q1. “Although technically within standard deviations, these drops
stand in contrast to steadily increasing developer interest in Android
over the last year and are consistent with an increase in developer
frustration with Android.,” the report noted. “Nearly two-thirds (63
percent) of respondents said that device fragmentation in Android poses
the biggest risk to Android, followed by weak initial traction in
tablets (30 percent) and multiple Android app stores (28 percent).

While 71 percent of developers are very interested in Android as a
tablet OS, only 52 percent are very interested in one of the leading
Android tablet devices today, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, according to
survey results. Further down the list, only 44 percent are very
interested in the Motorola Xoom and 31 percent in the upcoming HTC
Flyer. Smaller players (Acer, Archos, etc.) register minimal interest,
the report found.

“Android remains an exceptionally strong OS but the cumulative effect
of unresolved issues with the Android ecosystem are taking a toll on
developers,” notes report series co-author Scott Ellison, vice president
of mobile and connected consumer platforms. “The challenge for Google
will be to better align app developer momentum with the momentum of
Android device shipment numbers, and therein lies a competitive
opportunity for Microsoft, Nokia and RIM.”

Also featured in this report is an analysis of the six layers of
fragmentation (including Android) that are increasingly frustrating
developers, a take on mobile apps vs. mobile Web, and a look at how the
ubiquity of the mobile cloud is addressing fragmentation and defining
a new trend toward always-on computing.