New research shows that while Android has more phone activations (550,000 versus 450,000 for iOS), apps on iOS accounts for about 75 percent of new development and revenue. Developer support for Android has waned as well, dropping from 33 percent of all new projects to roughly 25 percent of new projects.
“While the market nearly doubled for both platforms, we believe key events changed the proportion of support between these two platforms,” writes Peter Farago of Flurry. “Of particular note, Apple expanded distribution for iOS devices beyond its long-standing exclusive with AT&T to include Verizon in February and Sprint in October. Further, the highly successful launches of iPad 2 in February and iPhone 4S in October resulted in increased developer support for Apple. By contrast, Android does not enjoy a truly recognizable flagship device among its army of OEMs supporting the platform.”
One key difference is believed to be the fact that every iPhone requires that users enter their credit card information for iTunes, creating a more friction-free way to pay. By contrast, Android phones have no such requirement, though they are looking to encourage such information with Google Checkout.
“While exact Google Checkout penetration is unknown, the respective revenue generated by each platform for same apps, provides the morale of the story: Despite installed base numbers and daily activations, the almighty dollar still drives business decision making among application developers. And with the critical holiday season upon us, developers are betting on iOS for Christmas 2011,” concluded Farago.
Source: Flurry
