Kindle Fire most popular tablet for app development
Amazon’s new Kindle Fire is now the most popular Android tablet in North America for app developers, edging out the Samsung Galaxy tab.
Interest on the Kindle Fire is on par with interest for the iPad prior to its launch in April 2010, and second only to the Galaxy tab globally with developers. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 also decisively moved ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS to become the clear number three mobile OS behind iOS and Android.
The research was conducted by Appcelerator, the integrated mobile platform for rapidly developing native and HTML5 mobile web applications using open web technologies, and analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC), from a new joint survey of 2,160 Appcelerator developers around the world.
Appcelerator and IDC found in January 2011 that among developers price was the single most important factor for Android Tablets to compete successfully against the iPad. Fast forward to November and developers cite price again as the leading reason for interest in the Kindle Fire. Rounding out the top 5 tablets, respondents eye Amazon’s rich content ecosystem, Appstore, target demographic, and eCommerce integration as the key reasons for interest in the new eReader.
When considering Kindle Fire’s potential drawbacks, fragmentation and lack of features like camera and geo-location were the two top concerns cited by developers. Assuming Amazon sells well this Christmas in the US, Android developers will need to consider yet another set of different capabilities. The difference this time? Google will be less able to exert control over Amazon’s divergent Android path.
As further evidence of apps becoming more important on the second screen or companion device, this research showed that Connected TV app development interest continues to slide. A year ago, 44% of developers were very interested in developing for Google TV. Even with a second version announced last month, only 20% expressed the same enthusiasm for Google TV this round. Apple TV however saw a smaller decline from 40% a year ago to 27% today.