Hot or Not: Developer Interest in iPad Ticks Up and Down

by Darryl K. Taft

In January, 90 percent of developers surveyed said they were “very interested” in developing applications for the iPad. Resurveyed in March, only 80 percent said the same.

According to Appcelerator’s developer base, the breakdown of platforms they prefer to build applications for ranges from the iPhone at the top to the Kindle at the very bottom.

Appcelerator’s survey results show clearly that mobile development platforms break down into three tiers. This also suggests there is healthy and dynamic competition for the hearts and minds of developers.

Apple’s wildly popular iPhone has set the tone for mobile app dev platforms with its viable marketplace and attractive options. However, Google’s Android has shown significant growth, rising from 68 percent in January to 81 percent in March. Meanwhile, developer interest in the iPad slipped a little.

The middle tier shows the most growth and perhaps the most promise. Developer interest in the Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry doubled, rising from 21 percent in January to 43 percent in March. Interest in the Windows Phone platform nearly tripled, rising from 13 percent in January to 34 percent in March. Microsoft was probably helped by the recent announcement of its Windows Phone 7 Series platform and developer strategy.

It is probably not fair to list Symbian as an “also-ran” when Symbian is the most widely used smartphone platform in the world, but, in the U.S. at least, developers just do not seem to be rushing to the platform. However, developer interest rose from 10 percent in January to 16 percent in March. Poor sales and financial woes seem to have impacted developer interest in Palm’s innovative webOS platform. Meanwhile, the more specialized Meego and Kindle platforms are rather new to the game.