Ovum’s new mobile application developer survey shows that Google’s server-side APIs are preferred over cell phone carriers own services by more than two to one. It also shows developers like the Apple App Store the most.
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The iPhone OS has 81% already developing for the platform or planning to do with RIM’s BlackBerry OS 74% Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS 66%(formerly Windows Mobile) Google’s Android OS 64% or smartphone pioneer Symbian’s OS, 56%
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60 percent of mobile developers are using or plan to use Google’s server-side APIs when building applications, leaving the mobile operators behind at 25 percent of the developer audience.
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When selecting partners for application development, the top requirements are ease of development (70%) followed by breadth of platform functionality (69%), good-quality SDKs (68%), and flexibility/innovation (63%).
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- 74% of respondents distribute or plan to distribute their applications through Apples App Stoe. Android Market, BlackBerry App World, and Windows Marketplace for Mobile all scored well with more than 50% of the sample supporting them.
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- 51% of respondents were using the operator as a channel or planned to do so.
When selecting a channel partner for distribution reach is the top priority for developers (32%). Put simply, they want to get services in front of as many people as possible.
Geographic and local presence is ranked second (12%), followed by technical support (10%). Issues relating to business models such as costs, flexibility, and revenue share received a lower ranking, but this should not be taken to mean that these things are not important. It is more a question of getting the fundamentals in place as a priority.