A new report from mobile cloud platform providers Appcelerator and industry-leading analyst form IDC shows that new mobile platforms and cloud developments by Apple and Google are tempting developers to their services, redefining mobile app engagement, loyalty and cloud connectivity thanks to the new Google+ and iCloud services.
The survey, which polled 2,012 respondents, indicates that developers believe Google+ and iCloud will impact the growth and adoption of mobile the most, accounting for 25% and 22% of developer votes respectively. Developers also believe that Near-Field Communication will play an important part in driving mobile innovation, but with widespread adoption still a while off, it may have lost ground to services that have launched or are due to launch soon.
Scott Ellison, IDC VP Mobile & Consumer Connected Platforms adds insight:
Google and Apple are pushing mobile competition beyond OS platforms into the cloud and into social integration.
This means even broader battles with major players like Amazon and Facebook, creating new competitive complexities and opportunities going forward for everyone in the mobile ecosystem.
Of the two thousand respondents surveyed, 68% believe that Google’s suite of tools including Search, YouTube, Maps and its social network provide more opportunities that Facebook’s social graph, currently the dominant social player. Nearly half of respondents believed Google shows more innovation than Facebook with its new Google+ featureset, including Circles, Sparks and Hangouts.
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However, developers aren’t ready to abandon Facebook’s platform, with 83% saying that they will use the world’s most popular social network’s tools and services in their apps this year. Twitter ranked second with 73%, followed by Google+ with 72%. Google+ has yet to announce a public or developer API, although this is said to be coming – especially after it was revealed Games were coming to Google+.
Apple’s upcoming iOS 5 release has the mobile community excited, with improved notifications (58%) and iCloud (51%) provoking the most interested from developers. This was followed by integrated Twitter support (40%), reminders (36%), and iMessage (32%). With iCloud offering space to backup music, files and documents in online, 50% of developer intend to incorporate iCloud support in their services.
It won’t come as a surprise to learn that iOS devices dominate mobile application development, with 91% of developers saying they are “very interested” in developing for the iPhone and 88% interested in creating apps for the iPad. Interest in Android rose from 85% yo 87% over the last quarter, with Android tablets rising to 74%. With HTML 5 development starting to gain momentum, 66% of developers say they are interested in HTML 5 development.
Google and Apple’s new platforms will help challenge more establish players like Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook but the battle is far from over. With consumers more aware of their devices and what opportunities are available to them, it is up to these companies to offer services that are easy to use and do not take away from their daily lives.
The full report is available here.
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