Home Developers Report Increased Interest in Android, Tablets for 2011

Developers Report Increased Interest in Android, Tablets for 2011

The average developer is now building for four different devices, a joint survey from app development firm Appcelerator and analyst firm IDC has revealed. Of those multiple devices, building apps for Android tablets is now a consideration for many developers, with 74% of the 2,000 developers surveyed responding that they are “very interested” in developing for Android tablets.

But the interest in Android tablets – up 12 points in the past three months – is indicative of a growing interest in tablets across the board, says Appcelerator. iPad interest also rose 3 points to reach 87% and BlackBerry PlayBook interest doubled from 16% to 28% during the same time period.

Android Development Takes Off

There were 85 new tablets introduced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2011), the majority of which were running some version of Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to the developers surveyed, the success of these tablets will be dependent on three factors: price (57% say this is the most important factor), minimized fragmentation (49%) and the capabilities of the new tablet-centric Android Honeycomb OS (33%).

Meanwhile, as Android tablet interest grew (now at 74%, as mentioned above), Android phone interest grew as well. Today, 87% of mobile developers said they were “very interested” in Android phone development, a response that rose 5 points, edging out iPad and coming within 5 points of iPhone (92%).

And interest in Amazon’s new Android App Store is showing a surge of interest, too. 37% of developers are interested in distributing apps via Amazon, as compared with 13% interested in Verizon’s VCAST app store and 9% interested in third-party app store GetJar.  82% are interested in distributing apps via Google’s official Android Market.

iPhone Still Tops, Other Platforms See Smaller Changes

However, iPhone is still the number one priority. Says Appcelerator, the question developers are now asking themselves after launching on iPhone is this: “do I go Android or iPad?”

Another mobile platform seeing a minor increase in interest is Windows Phone 7, up 8 points to 36% of developers indicating strong interest. The respondents said it was the OS’s revamped and improved user interface that drew them in.

Connected TV App Development Interest Declines

Outside the mobile ecosystem, there was little interest in developing apps for Connected TVs (Internet-connected TVs with accompany app stores). Thanks to Google’s recent pull back on its Google TV plans, developer interest also dropped. It’s now down 11 points to 33%. Apple TV also dropped 10 points to 30%. Interest in Connected TV alternatives like Yahoo TV, Boxee and Roku was also minimal.

Mobile App Strategies

The survey also took a look at where both enterprise and consumer development efforts were in terms of mobile app strategy. Last year, many survey respondents (43%) said they were in an exploratory phase, and typically only offered an app or two, one of which was usually for the iPhone.

Now, 55% of respondents say they’re in the “acceleration” phase of their overall mobile app strategy. On average, respondents say they plan on developing 6.5 apps this year, up 282% from last year.

Businesses in particular are taking a multi-platform approach, the survey found. And, on average, the survey respondents said they are now building for 4 devices this year: typically,iPhone, iPad, Android phone and Android tablet.

Their apps will often be cloud-connected (87%, up from 64% last year). The apps will also be personalized and contextual, offering integration with both social and location services.

Revenue Generation

As noted by earlierreports, the survey also confirmed the trend of moving away from app sales as the primary revenue-generating outlet with more focus on alternative income sources like in-app purchasing and advertising.

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