GetJar: Developer Interest in Android, Windows Phone Catching Up to iOS

Apple's (NAS: AAPL) iOS remains the primary focus of mobile application development efforts, but interest in Google's (NAS: GOOG) Android and Microsoft's (NAS: MSFT) Windows Phone is gaining steam, according to cross-platform app store GetJar's latest App Meter developer poll. Among the 300 GetJar network developers surveyed, 80% are currently working on projects for Apple's iPhone and 59% are building apps for the iPad, compared with 51.2% creating apps for Android smartphones and 20.5% developing for Android-powered tablets. But asked which platforms they plan to target six months from now, 58% of developers expect to work on Android smartphone apps and 47% anticipate working on Android tablet apps -- just 55.6% expect to build iPhone apps, and 52% expect to create iPad apps.

Interest in Windows Phone is also increasing with version 7.1 (a.k.a. "Mango") on the horizon: 24% of GetJar developers expect to develop for Windows Phone by year's end, compared with only 9% currently writing apps for the Microsoft platform. In addition, 70% of respondents believe Windows Phone will remain a viable mobile platform five years from now, behind iOS and Android at 98% each. Few developers are optimistic that Research In Motion's (NAS: RIMM) BlackBerry has legs: Fewer than 15% of respondents expect to initiate BlackBerry projects within the next six months, and less than half believe the OS will still survive five years from now. Symbian's future is even more dire: Fewer than 7% of developers plan to write Symbian apps during the next six months, and fewer than 20% believe it will stick around over the long haul.

Nearly 80% of developers surveyed by GetJar distribute their apps through Apple's App Store, while 44.4% currently rely on Google's Android Market, although that number will increase to 70% in the months to come. Developer interest in marketing apps through Amazon.com's (NAS: AMZN) Appstore for Android increased from 11% to 34%, and interest in distributing apps through GetJar itself grew from 11% to 16%.

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