A majority of developers believe Google’s Android operating system — not Apple’s iOS — will be the dominant platform in the future to power everything from smartphones to touch-screen refrigerators, according to a survey released today.
While independent software writers are enthusiastic about creating apps for Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, and see it as the most financially viable platform now, they view Android as the long-term winner in terms of market share.
Seventy-two percent of developers say Android “is best positioned to power a large number and variety of connected devices in the future” — while only 25 percent said iOS will rule the new device world, according to a survey of nearly 2,400 app developers from around the world conducted by Mountain View-based Appcelerator, which makes software development tools, and research firm IDC.
Nearly 56 percent of developers said they favored Android’s long-term outlook as a platform for them to make money, while 37 percent picked iOS, the Apple mobile operating system that runs the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad tablet.
By the end of this year, Google’s Android smartphone operating system is expected to leapfrog competing mobile systems, including Apple’s, Research In Motion’s and Microsoft’s Windows in global popularity, according to a recent Gartner report. The first Android tablet, the Samsung Tab, will be launched soon on all four major U.S. wireless carriers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Other companies are expected to follow with their own Android tablets, flooding the market now dominated by the iPad.
“It’s a forward-looking perspective,” said Scott Schwarzhoff, Appcelerator’s vice president of marketing. “Developers are building a business. So they have to place bets. It means dollars and cents to them. They look at all the factors and say, ‘Well, how long can this horse really ride?’ “
By a wide margin, Android is considered the most open platform, even after Apple recently revised its developer agreement to provide more transparency to its app approval process and opened up iOS to third-party development tools.
“The reason this is a problem for Apple is, you will see Android embedded on devices beyond the smartphone — tablets, connected TVs, conference systems like Cisco’s TelePresence, stereos, refrigerators, automobiles,” Schwarzhoff said. “How many devices could benefit from the Android operating system? The answer is: a lot. It is the next-generation operating system.”
At present, though, developers view Apple’s devices as the biggest business opportunity. Seventy-six percent said iOS presents the best moneymaking opportunities, while 19 percent chose Android; 88 percent said Apple has the best app store, while only 10 percent said that of Android. Ninety-one percent said they were “very interested” in creating apps for iOS gadgets, while 82 percent chose Android smartphones.
Apple’s rigid platform gives developers a consistent software road map across all the gadgets — and, presumably, future iOS devices. The wide-open Android operating system, on the other hand, will reside an a variety of devices, each with its own requirements that demand different specs. And that is a concern for developers, Schwarzhoff said.
Seventy-four percent of developer respondents said iOS was the “least fragmented” platform, while only 11 percent described Android as such.
The biggest risk for Android is developers could eventually view it as a “fragmented mess,” Schwarzhoff said.
“It’s not all happy trails for Google here,” he said. “Apple does things for a reason.”
Contact John Boudreau at 408-278-3496.
Apple vs. gOOGLE
Developers see Apple’s iOS mobile operating system as the best opportunity for business for now, but not in the future, according to new survey:
75 percent said Apple had the best near-term outlook.
56 percent said Google’s Android has a better long-term outlook.
Source: Appcelerator and IDC
