On the heels of Apple’s recent announcement it has sold three million iPads in the first 80 days, comes a survey of developer interest showing the tablet device is the second most popular device, behind the iPhone. The survey, by the maker of a development tool, found 84 percent of developers asked named the iPad as holding their interest, a 26 point jump from April.
Developers expressed declining interest in other smartphone platforms, prompting Appcelerator to comment: “Apple and Google are now playing chess while everyone else plays catch-up.” Between March and June, RIM’s BlackBerry lost 9 percent of developer interest, with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 (announced in February) had 7 percent fewer developers interest.
But the survey also offered some cautionary information for Apple. Interest in developing for a tablet based on Google’s Android operating system reached 62 percent in June, even though no tablet yet exists. Additionally, developers love the App Store tie-in, preferring the iPad or iOS by 89 percent versus Android’s 10 percent. However, developers prefer Android as having the most capable operating system, the most open platform and using an OS with the best long-term outlook.
This isn’t the first time developers have said they prefer the iPad. Earlier this year, at the height of pre-launch iPad speculation, another survey found triple the number of apps were being developed, compared to January 2010.
[via Fortune]
