The race for developer mindshare is just starting and many players are juggling to get the minds of the developers. Who will win? Apple or Google or even Microsoft. There is this consensus that the best days of Blackberry are behind it.
So, in a new report (actually June 2011), Developer Economics notes these facts after extensive study, interviews and market research:
- Use of mobile web accelerates. The last year has seen many twists and turns in the race of mobile platforms to capture developer mindshare. Mobile web as a platform has seen an impressive upturn in usage, and is now in third position in our Developer Mindshare Index. Android and iOS continue to lead with 67% of developers currently using Android and 59% using iOS.
- Windows is not yet the third horse in the three-horse mobile race. Use of Windows Mobile has dropped among developers in the last year, while Windows Phoneis not yet seen by developers as a commercially viable platform. Yet Windows Phone 7has managed to establish itself in the number two spot after Android in our DeveloperIntentshare Index, among platforms where developers plan to invest. Microsoft’sadvantage comes from the influx of PC and Xbox developers, Microsoft’s best-in-classtools and the promise of a substantial user base with the Nokia deal.
- Symbian, Java abandoned: Symbian and Java ME are the two platforms with thehighest developer abandonment rates; nearly 40% of developers currently usingSymbian and 35% of developers currently using Java ME are planning to drop theplatforms. Java ME is suffering from negative hype despite having been embedded onmore than three billion handsets. Symbian is now officially a platform with an expiry date, with the Nokia Symbian handset line-up set to be discontinued.
- Experimentation on the rise: Developers are increasingly experimenting with more and more platforms and transitioning to new ones. Developers use on average 3.2platforms concurrently based on our sample of 850+ online respondents, representing a 15% increase from last year’s figure.
For complete study, please click here to read June Developer Economics.