Data & Research

Kindle Fire now a bigger priority than Galaxy Tab for US developers, reports Appcelerator

Windows Phone also gaining momentum with Nokia

Kindle Fire now a bigger priority than Galaxy Tab for US developers, reports Appcelerator
Predictions Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire tablet will be a hit with bargain hunting consumers won't be too wide of the mark if developers get their way.

Stats released by cross-platform development specialist Appcelerator suggest enthusiasm for the device within the development community is currently ramping up.

Appcelerator's latest developer survey, conducted in cooperation with IDC suggests, 49 percent of North American studios interested in developing for Android tablets named Kindle Fire as their target device, narrowly placing it ahead of Samsung's Galaxy Tab on 48 percent.

Said figure also mean developers are doubly as interested in Kindle Fire as they are Amazon's biggest rival in the high-end eReader market – Barnes & Noble's Nook Color, which garnered 24 percent of support across the region.

Second fiddle Samsung

Appcelerator noted the level of developer interest in Kindle Fire is now on a par with the enthusiasm studios showed for iPad before its release, with interest coming in at 53 percent in April 2010.

Despite Galaxy Tab falling short against its new found rival in North America, however, Appcelerator claims on a worldwide basis, Samsung's tablet is still top dog within the Android ecosystem.

Globally, 56 percent of developers intend to support Galaxy Tab, ahead of Kindle Fire on 43 percent.



Developers turned on by Kindle Fire cite the device's $199 entry price as the main reason for their interest, with the strength of the device's potential software library its second biggest strength.

Windows Phone winning

On the mobile side, Windows Phone also seems to be gaining momentum, with 38 percent claiming they're now 'very interested' in supporting Microsoft's platform.

The main reason appears to be the launch of Nokia's Lumia 800, with the Finnish firm's partnership with Microsoft acting as a trigger.



While Windows Phone is winning the industry over, however, RIM is losing ground.

Interest in supporting BlackBerry phones fell 7 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, coming in at 21 percent. PlayBook, too, is suffering, down 6 percentage points to 13 percent.

Naturally, Apple's iOS still reigns supreme overall, with 91 percent of developers citing interest in iPhone and 88 percent plumping for iPad.

[source: Appcelerator]

When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.