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Develop 2012: HTML5 can wait: focus on the native app, says Flurry

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Develop 2012: HTML5 can wait: focus on the native app, says Flurry
Citing Wooga's HTML5 wobble a matter of weeks ago, Flurry GM for EMEA Richard Firminger used his talk at Develop 2012 in Brighton to tout the continued strength of the native app.

According to Firminger, while studios that can afford to might gain from having one or two people focused on HTML5 development for the future, native apps remain the big revenue raiser for the majority of developers.

Early days

"We estimate that the target addressable market for smartphone games is 2 billion affluent adults," said Firminger.

"There are 530 million users on iOS and Android. So, if you compare to where we could be, we're just starting out."

Indeed. Firminger said he was keen to "dispel the myth that if you're not already in mobile then you're too late."

"There are still millions more consumers to win over and retain in the years ahead," he added.

"It's probably the biggest content revolution of our lifetimes. You can see smartphones are growing at a pace never seen before."

Staying native

Flurry calculates smartphone users each spend more than an hour and a half inside apps a day.

That's up from 43 minutes back in June 2010, and a larger amount of time than the 72 mins users spend web browsing.

But while much of the industry has been looking to HTML5 to merge the two activities, Firminger claimed the language is some way off delivering the goods.

"If you're really thinking about what platforms to focus on, focus on what's here today," he suggested.

"Native is where the audience is. Native is where the money is."

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.