Phones

Report Finds Developers Favor Android Over iPhone in Record Numbers

If you believe that where developers go, consumers will follow, then Android has a far brighter future than does the iPhone. A just completed survey of developers by Appcelerator and IDC found that 58.6% of developers believe Android has the best long-term outlook, compared to 34.9% who believe that the iPhone and iPad operating system has a better outlook.

Appcelerator and IDC conducted the survey of 2,363 Appcelerator Titanium developers from September 14-16. Back in June, the same survey found that 54.0% of developers believed Android had the best long-term outlook compared to iOS at 40.4%. Appcelerator notes about the results of its newest survey compared to the previous one:

Fast forward three months beyond a successful iPhone 4 launch and Apple's recent announcement that it would be easing restrictions on developers and...this gap has widened 10.1 points. Now 58.6% of respondents in our new survey believe Android has a better long-term outlook over iOS (34.9%).

Why are developers so bullish on Android? One big reason is that 72% of developers believe that Android "is best positioned to power a large number and variety of connected devices in the future" in the words of the report, compared to 35% who believe that iOS is beter positioned.

Developers also favor Google slightly over Apple when it comes to developing for connected TVs, with 44% 'very interested' in developing for Google TV compared to 40% for Apple TV.