Apple’s iOS platform has continued to be the top platform for users who actually like to buy stuff via their smartphone, says a new study from Forrester. Consumers with iOS devices are 30% more likely to buy something via their device, than Android users.
Even though iOS is where more of the money is at, Android isn’t getting ignored by U.S. companies. Forrester’s study also reported that 96% of ebusiness professionals surveyed for the study plan to launch a native or hybrid Android app by the end of 2013, while 99% said they plan to do the same for iOS.
As reported by TechCrunch, Forrester says that the amount of resources companies are throwing into their iOS and Android apps is preventing BlackBerry and Windows Phone from getting much attention. Only companies with big budgets are really looking to make apps on platforms other than Android and iOS:
That’s because around 41 percent of ebusiness pros have only $500,000 or less to spend on their mobile budgets, and 56 percent have less than $1 million. That money can only go so far, and still pales in comparison to general marketing budgets, and even budgets devoted to general web-facing property. This alone is a prime reason why cross-platform solutions will continue to succeed, even as developers debate the merits of cross-platform technologies like HTML5 vs. native tools.
As Apple and Google’s mobile platforms have matured developers have to devote more resources than ever before to keep apps supported across all current and new devices and OS versions.
The fragmentation has actually helped Apple and Google maintain their marketshare lead on Microsoft and BlackBerry by unintentionally diverting companies’ resources away from a third and fourth competitor.
Source: TechCrunch
