A new survey of mobile developers shows that they are most interested in the iOS and Android platforms, and the introduction of tablets like the iPad have them in a frenzy.
Appcelerator surveyed more than 2,700 developers from June 15-17. That’s three times the response the company got for a similar survey in March, an increase Appcelerator partly attributes to the debut of the iPad and the excitement building around the potential of more tablets entering the market later this year and next.
While 90 percent said of respondents said they were particularly interested in developing for the iPhone and 84 percent expressed interest in the iPad, the survey found that the developers have a lot of love for Android-based tablets that aren’t even on the market yet. Sixty-two percent can’t wait to spend time tinkering on what they hope is the next big app for what many consider to be the next big OS.
Here’s the full list of devices and platforms in the survey. The percentage reflects how many of the respondents said they were “very interested” in developing for the given platform:
- iPhone (iOS): 90%
- iPad (iOS): 84%
- Android Phone: 81%
- Android Tablet: 62%
- BlackBerry: 34%
- Windows Phone 7: 27%
- Symbian: 15%
- Palm Pre/Pixi: 13%
- Meego: 11%
- Kindle: 6%
It’s pretty clear that Apple and Google have left everyone else behind, which probably comes as little surprise. But perhaps the most interesting part of the survey is, when asked about long-term viability of operating systems, the developers gave Android the edge over iOS, 54 percent to 40 percent, due primarily to flexibility and the potential for more capabilities. Now, however, it’s Apple’s orchard. Seventy-eight percent like iOS in the near-term, while just 16 percent picked Android.
