While the numbers show consumers are buying nearly four times more Android devices than iPhones, mobile application developers have been disregarding the trend, and are primarily focusing on creating apps for iOS.
The overwhelming popularity of Android devices may come as a surprise, considering the highly publicized success of the iPhone 4S. But in reality, Apple’s market share saw a 16.6 percent drop in 2011 compared to the previous year. Android devices led the way with 53 percent of all smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2011, while iOS devices represented just 15 percent, according to Gartner.
But despite the high demand for smartphones running Android in the third quarter, there was a significantly larger number of app publishers that focused on building for the iPhone. Of the 55,000 developers that are tracked by Flurry Analytics’ platform, 73 percent opted to start projects optimized for iOS before Android in the last quarter of 2011.
The number of app downloads in each store trends more with the number of developers targeting iOS projects than the number of devices purchased. While the Android Marketplace just surpassed 10 billion downloads, the Apple Store has peaked 18 billion, according to Flurry. But developers’ interest in primarily creating iOS apps are rooted first and foremost in revenue opportunities rather than popularity of the Apple Store.
U.S. investment banking firm Pipar Jaffray claims that Android developers earn only 7 percent of what iOS developers earn from the Apple Store. This is mostly because the Apple Store charges for 14 percent of its apps, compared to just 1 percent of apps in the Android Market.
Software development companies and organizations looking to invest in custom application development can both reap benefits from focusing their efforts on iOS apps. One way that a business can explore creating its own customized app to increase productivity or organize information is to discuss their specific needs with Filemaker consultants. Using Filemaker, a developer can create customized database software that can be accessed on an iPhone or iPad with Filemaker Go.