Is Android Developer Interest Matching Its Market Share?
Many reports have highlighted that Android will dominate the global smartphone operating system market in 2014. According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent annually to reach a record 990 million units in 2013. Android captured 79 percent share of all smartphones shipped worldwide and extended its lead over Apple, Microsoft and other rivals. So both enterprises and individual developers can build apps by targeting the hugely popular mobile platform to get higher returns. However, the global smartphone operating system market share of Android is not matching developer interest. Most developers still prefer building iOS apps to earn more.
Why the Android Market Share does not Match the Interest of Developers?
Lower Returns
Each developer wants to get higher ROI by building a popular mobile application. However, the free mobile apps will not get developers the expected ROI. So developers often target the mobile application store that has the highest number of paid app. Despite the huge global smartphone operating system market share of Android, Apple App Store still includes a higher number of paid apps. As Android is open source, the most users prefer downloading apps without incurring any expenses. A number of reports have further highlighted how iOS application developers are earning more than Android programmers.
Stiff Competition
Nowadays, users have option to choose from several mobile platforms. Therefore, mobile application development has become highly competitive. Some enterprises prefer developing apps according to the popularity and market share of an operating system, whereas others emphasize on profitability and ROI. The growing popularity of Android further encourages new enterprises to venture into mobile application development. That is why; many developers prefer building apps for new mobile platforms to avoid competition.
Lack of Key Features
The huge popularity of Android further encourages many users to switch to the mobile platform. But many users who have already used iOS devices feel that the Android version of certain apps lacks some key features. For instance, the users can use an app like TiVo to efficiently manage their DVR recordings. But the app does not allow them to watch the content. So many users feel that the iOS apps are more comprehensive and sophisticated in comparison to Android applications. The perception also affects the popularity of the Android apps along with developer interest.
Emergence of New Mobile Operating Systems
Like Android, the market share of newer mobile operating systems like Windows Phone is also increasing. With 35.7 million units shipped worldwide in 2013, Windows Phone has captured 4% of global smartphone operating system market share within a very short span of time. As the Microsoft application store does not have adequate apps, it becomes easier for developers to build apps for the new platform. Many enterprises even develop apps for the new mobile platforms to avoid expensive promotional campaigns and competition.
Market Saturation
The frequent changes in the choices of users have further made mobile app development both complex and time-consuming. So the developers have to consider the current and future market share of a mobile platform while making the strategy. Many analysts feel that Android may not grow rapidly during the recent years due to market saturation. As the operating system is open source, many companies have launched a wide variety of Android mobile devices. So the market for Android smartphones have saturated over a period of time. So developers may not get the desired ROI by developing Android apps.
A consistent increase is also noted in the number of enterprises investing in cross-platform mobile apps. The developers also have option to use several frameworks and tools to build different versions of the same app for various mobile operating systems. So many developers, nowadays, develop application by simultaneously targeting multiple mobile platforms including Android. You can get in touch with a custom android development company who can help you develop android apps which are stable, scalable and secure.
We provide android application development services. If you would like to hire android developers for your app development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.