In a recent survey by Evans Data Corp., mobile-application developers ranked AT&T as the best carrier to cater to developer needs in North America.
Mobile-application
developers in North America rank AT&T as the best carrier for developers in
the region, according to a recent report by Evans Data Corp.
When asked to
rank the capabilities that carriers offer to developers, those in North America
ranked AT&T better than all competitors in four key areas: application
distribution, tools, supported technologies and market potential.
Having an
exclusive deal with Apple for the iPhone, at least to this point, has played
well for AT&T with developers. But that soon may change with Apple and
Verizon joining forces.
However,
AT&T was ranked best in mobile-application distribution by 37 percent of
the mobile developers polled-almost twice as many as Sprint, which ranked
second in that category. Meanwhile, 26 percent of developers said AT&T has
the best tool offerings, almost a quarter more than those who said T-Mobile,
the next choice, did. AT&T also edged out Verizon as the carrier with the
best-supported technologies and the best market potential. When all four
categories were combined, AT&T was selected as tops by almost twice as many
developers than the next-closest competitor, Verizon.
"AT&T has
been diligent in creating a full-service developer program, and obviously
values developers and understands their importance" Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans
Data, said in a statement. "Of course, the exclusive arrangement with Apple
helped them gain steam in app distribution and market potential, and that edge
may disappear now, but all the important basics, like tool offerings and
supported technologies, are a notch above at AT&T, according to North
American mobile developers."
The study also
showed that 73 percent of mobile developers plan to extend enterprise
applications to mobile devices in the next 12 months. Also, the mobile
developers surveyed listed Java as their most-targeted platform, with 62
percent currently creating mobile Java applications-more than iPhone, Android
or any other platform.
In addition, while
the study found that 76 percent of the mobile developers polled said they are
concerned about government interference in the mobile market, 32 percent said
they are very concerned about this.
Evans Data's
Mobile Development Survey is conducted twice a year and focuses on mobile development
worldwide. It includes such as topics as platforms, APIs, application
stores and application distribution, and other mobile-development topics.
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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