Android to dominate developer mindshare in 2011

PORTLAND, USA: Mobile developers will put more energy into monetizing and measuring their apps in the upcoming year, according to survey data from Urban Airship, a mobile services platform provider.

According to the survey report, the Android platform will continue to gain market share, Apple iOS and Android will be the dominant mobile platforms, and BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 will see notable increases in app development.

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Designed to measure trends in the mobile application space, the survey asked the broad Urban Airship developer community about their development plans and wish lists for mobile apps in 2011.

The importance of revenue to app developers is growing dramatically. Of developers surveyed, only 13 percent of developers plan to develop a non-revenue—generating app in 2011, compared with 33 percent who did so in 2010.

“Clearly, as apps become more mainstream, companies are starting to realize their value as a content-delivery mechanism,” says Scott Kveton, CEO of Urban Airship.

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“In 2011, mobile is going to be another profit-generating channel for companies and we are seeing them updating their apps to enable monetization.”

The most common revenues from apps come from the app’s purchase price, through in-app advertising, or via in-app purchase, which allows end users to purchase additional content and/or features from within the app itself.

In-app purchase is quickly becoming the preferred method for increasing revenue in 2011. In 2010, the majority of app developers (47 percent) named initial download as their main source of revenue, with in-app purchase used by only 8 percent. In 2011, in-app purchase implementations will jump to 31 percent, a significant increase that points to the evolution of the mobile app and the strategies behind them.

Also read: Android will be a key player in the tablet market

iOS and Android dominate developer mindshare

Respondents indicated that iOS and Android would continue to dominate their plans for mobile app support in 2011. Ninety percent of respondents indicated they will be developing for iOS and 74 percent will be developing for Android in 2011.

Despite significant growth in developer support for Blackberry and Windows Phone7 in 2011, these platforms lag significantly behind iOS and Android, with 24 percent support for WP7 and 22 percent for Blackberry.

Survey results indicate that developers believe they need to support both iOS and Android to attain wide success and will be evaluating their return on investment in supporting a third or fourth platform.