When I first saw this article about a recent mobile developer poll, I thought I had misread things. Did it really just say “AT&T was ranked best operator?” Yes, yes it did. Apparently, Evans Data Corporation (EDC), an IT industry market intelligence firm, surveyed over 385 mobile developers, asking them in-depth questions about mobile platforms, device development, deployment, app stores, porting, development issues, requirements and much more, and summarized the findings in a new report released just this month.
Of course, the headline here is that the developers overwhelming said that AT&T was the best mobile carrier in terms of the capabilities offered to developers. Is this the iPhone effect realized? Or is it something more? Let us know your thoughts in this week’s poll.
Mobile Developer Survey Says AT&T is Best
The survey, whose findings are here, says that AT&T ranked better than all its competitors in North America, in four essential areas. In Mobile Application Distribution, it beat its nearest competitor by 37% – nearly twice as many as Sprint, which ranked second. 26% said AT&T had the best Tool Offerings, a quarter more than T-Mobile, number two in that category. AT&& beat Verizon with the best Supported Technologies and best Market Potential, the survey also found. And combined, AT&T was picked as the top carrier by almost twice as many developers than its next closest competitor, Verizon.
Naturally, this sounds a lot like the iPhone effect to me, and apparently that thought crossed EDC CEO Janel Garvin’s mind too. “Of course the exclusive arrangement with Apple helped [AT&T] gain steam in app distribution and market potential…” he said. But he also noted that the carrier had been “diligent in creating a full service developer program, and obviously values developers and understand their importance.”
Still, AT&T? The best carrier?
Since a number of mobile developers read this blog, I’d like to ask you the same question. Which carrier do you think is best for mobile development, based on the same criteria mentioned above? This poll just includes major North American carriers, so as to be a more direct comparison with the one from EDC. But you can offer additional insight via comments, if you’d like.
