Most developers are coding for Google's Android instead of Apple's IOS

That's very likely a simple function of cost: You can't do iOS programming without the (relatively expensive) mac hardware.<p>Also, the actual report is here:<p><a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/VisionMobile-Developer_Economics_2011.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/VisionMobile...</a><p>Other points from the (CC/BY) report:<p>Platform revenue potential. Not all platforms are born with equal revenue potential. Our research revealed large discrepancies across platforms in terms of the revenues applications are bringing to developers. iOS topped the chart, making 3.3x more money per app than Symbian developers followed by Java ME (2.7x) and BlackBerry (2.4x). Android (1.7x), mobile web (1.6x) were the weakest performing platforms in terms of revenue per app and only ahead of Symbian (1.0).<p>....<p>App store fragmentation is an under-hyped challenge for developers. Each of the fifty-plus app stores available has its own developer sign-up, app submission process, artwork and paperwork requirements, app certification and approval criteria, revenue model options, payment terms, taxation and settlement terms. The marginal cost of distributing an application through one more app store is significant, contrary to popular perception.<p>....<p>Platform priorities For companies going mobile, platform priorities are mixed, but the core challenge is common – market penetration and reach across the customer base. Organisations developing B2C apps (targeted at consumers) are extending their offering first Apple and then to Android, to mobile web, to BlackBerry and finally to Windows Phone 7. For B2B apps (applications paid by the corporate IT manager or CIO), HTML is already the platform of choice- not just for deployment on mobile web browsers, but also by converting HTML and JavaScript into native iPhone and Android apps using tools from companies such as Appcelerator, PhoneGap, RhoMobile and Sencha.

How much credibility does this have? BlueVia is sells a product for developers that targets Android and not iOS, while VisionMobile is a market analysis company they presumably paid to produce this study. I'd never heard of either before, and it sounds like they have a substantial financial interest in presenting Android as more interesting to developers.

The iPhone developers, the good ones (e.g. have been Featured in App Store) that I am fortunate to know personally, they're not even touching Android.<p>Reasons: Unfamiliarity and leaving the comfort zone.<p>iOS development is comfortable. When you do Android dev, you give up a lot of comfort for raw, unfettered access. It is a rule of thumb when you develop for Android that when you release you will get ANR (Application Not Responding) simply because of the fact that you can't test on more than a few actual devices. I get crash reports from the market site that I can't fathom how they even can happen (stuff like libraries that are statically linked not being found)<p>And, as an primarily Android dev now, can you imagine giving up Core Data (for all its faults, the latest iOS 5 [redacted] makes it better), Interface Builder (ADT 11 is getting closer but still not close) and even stuff like Objective-C Categories?

On fragmentation:<p>We were able to quantify that indeed Apple’s iOS is the platform with the least fragmentation (on average four versions per app), as has been widely noted from empirical evidence in the past. Apple manages fragmentation through two primary means: first, it has standardised the screen size and resolution for its handsets and tablets; and second, as an OEM and platform vendor, it has commercially streamlined the means by which most iPhone or iPad users are upgraded to the latest OS version.<p>In contrast, our research indicates that Android developers must create six versions of their apps on average, which is on par with mobile web apps. The stark difference in fragmentation across Apple and Android devices is also evident amongst the different platform versions in the installed base of devices. According to Google data released on May 2011, 25% of active Android handsets run on platform versions more than 18 months out of date. Meanwhile, according to app analytics firm Localytics, only 20% of existing Apple 3GS devices had not yet been upgraded, just two months after the introduction of iOS4. In other words, Apple devices have the youngest runtime age in the mobile industry

I enjoy how he rambles on about how Java is dying, and that it isn't secure, but earlier says that 67% of mobile developers are working on Android applications.

Misleading headline. It implies that &#62;50% of developers are coding for Android exclusively, but that's not the case. It would be just as (in)accurate to say that "Most developers are coding for IOS."

"...67 per cent of developers code for Android..." I'm a little confused. 67% of all developers? 67% of mobile developers?

Haven't read it yet, but here's a direct link to the report: <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/VisionMobile-Developer_Economics_2011.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/VisionMobile...</a><p>FYI for those on mobile/capped access, it comes in at 15 MB.

"Entitled Developer Economics 2011, the study shows that 67 per cent of developers code for Android, up from 59 per cent in 2010. IOS lags behind at 59 per cent, but that's also up from 50 per cent last year, most likely due to Apple's introduction of the iPad."<p>Last time I checked 67% + 59% != 100%

I am <i>amazed</i> that we've got 56 comments on this thread, and nobody's brought up market share.<p>Android has been beating the bejeezus out of iOS on unit sales for a while now, both in the U.S. and globally. Even more importantly, Android's growing at a faster rate.<p>Developers will gravitate towards the platform with the most users. Period. This has happened time and time again over the past 30 years. IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, Google...<p>There's a lot of nuance underneath the headline numbers, and certain communities (like HN) will be friendlier to iOS. However, in general I would expect Android to capture the bulk of developer attention going forward.

Personally, I am building an app for the iPhone first because of public perception and marketing. It seems more people write and review iPhone apps versus Android apps - you can just tell when they start Android review articles with a tone of appeasement ie. "Ok, finally here's something for all you Android users.."<p>When someone finds your app and sees there's an iPhone version but no Android version, their normal reaction is: "That's understandable, Android is coming next, right?". If you have an Android version but no iPhone, their reaction will probably be "Hmm.. wait, that makes little sense...". It's just a side effect of iPhone being the first one to come up with app store.

Well that might be all well and good if you want to be a programmer with the rest of the herd. But the most profitable app store is the Apple store. Personally I'm happy that there aren't so many Objective C programmers around.