Despite the rabid popularity of Apple’s iPhone App Store around the
world, Nokia’s Ovi Store has overtaken Apple in emerging markets in
Asia-Pacific and Latin America, according to a recent Evans Data Corp.
study.
"The app store model is now an expected part of any wireless
developer program," said Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data, in a
statement. "And while Apple’s iPhone App Store set the pace in North
America and Europe, Nokia has been busy cultivating developers outside
the U.S. in their traditional offshore strongholds, and has been
remarkably successful in the short time of the Ovi store’s existence.”
The Evans Data study results jibe with market trends that show Nokia
and the Symbian OS as being a leading mobile platform in emerging
markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The study also indicated
that Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace for Mobile and apps sold directly
through a carrier were also popular channels.
However, monetization of their applications is not the top priority
for wireless developers in selecting a platform, according to the Evans
Data Wireless Development Survey. Instead, developers said technical
issues such as operating system, application runtime, and development
tools were more important factors than monetization. Evans Data
conducted its survey of more than 400 wireless developers in December
2009.
Meanwhile, other highlights of the survey include that wireless
developers surveyed said more than 60 percent of wireless development
projects are completed within six months or less. Also, the survey
showed that Java Data Objects are the most likely way to connect
back-end applications to wireless apps, and Intel’s processors are
targeted by more wireless developers than any other vendor including
ARM and nVidia.
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Application Development News & Reviews 
