Microsoft Surface Doesn't Impress Mobile Developers Says Survey

A survey by IDC and tool company Appcelerator finds that most mobile developers are not 'very interested' in writing apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone. Developer interest in Android, iOS and HTML5 remains strong.

Larry Seltzer, Contributor

December 14, 2012

1 Min Read

A survey of by IDC and mobile development tool company Appcelerator shows continued strong interest in iOS and Android development, but skepticism of Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone. The survey questioned 2,837 Appcelerator mobile developers from Nov 15-26, 2012

Google has also said that they are uninterested in writing apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone at this time.

The survey report includes these among the key findings:

The proliferation of iOS devices is making life difficult for developers.
56% of developers like Microsoft's Surface hardware, but most are skeptical of its prospects in the market. (See the graph from the report below.)
Amazon's Kindle is struggling for developer interest.
"...more than 53.8% of developers are 'very interested' in building apps for Google Nexus tablets.
Developers are unimpressed with Facebook's revamped strategy and expect it to lose social market share.

Among the predictions by the survey's authors, based on the results:

92.9% of mobile developers predict it is 'likely to very likely' that in 2013, most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce.
Developers believe in augmented reality and expect it to be a hit with users.
The hot consumer-facing categories for app development in 2013 are: business, finance, education, medical, productivity and mobile money.