Is iPad Developer Enthusiasm Flagging?
Despite the huge buzz around Apple's new iPad, both before its official announcement and after, according to recent surveys, enthusiasm among developers for the company's newest product may be on the decline.
The surveys, conducted by Appcelerator, queried over 1,000 developers, both before and after Steve Jobs announced the details of the new iPad. The upshot? The number of respondents that said they were "very interested" in writing an app for the iPad dropped from 90% to 80% once the official announcement was made.
Speculation is that the decline in interest may be in response to the release of iPad specifications, or lack thereof. Since the tablet lacks both multitasking and a camera, many apps that would be naturals for the tablet, and that developers may have been planning on coding, will not in fact be workable.
None of this is helped by the growing interest in Android either. When respondents were asked what platform they were "very interested" in developing for, the numbers were striking. While 87% of respondents listed the iPhone (a strong showing, though how could it not be at this point?), Android came in second with 81%. The iPad came in a distant third, at 53%, down from 58% prior to the announcement.
For some, Android was the big surprise there, though perhaps not to early adopters of the platform and open-source advocates (cough cough me cough). Apple's almost arbitrary (well, maybe not arbitrary - no Google Talk app?) and drawn-out app approval process for the iPhone, when compared with the ease of releasing Android apps, may be giving developers second thoughts about the iPad and contributing to the platform's numbers.
Combine these trending numbers with the upcoming release of the Android OS and the strengthening of consumer interest in Android as a smartphone platform, and we have the makings of a real horse race.
Graphic courtesy Appcelerator
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