Google makes it relatively easy to develop for the Android operating system and the opportunity to generate revenue is improving, but issues remain with Android fragmentation and limited visibility in Android app stores, according to a recent report.
About 55 percent of Android developers find OS fragmentation to be a meaningful or huge problem, according to a Monday study from Robert W. Baird & Co. This is an increase from the company's fourth quarter survey.
"Generally, developers seem to prefer a unified, single store experience like Apple App Store," Baird found. "We view this feedback as directionally negative for the Android operating ecosystem and its handset partners, though we would note that this risk is well known by the market and developers view Android's long-term prospects as bright."
Baird surveyed about 250 developers recently, 71 percent of which developed for Android. Another 62 percent identified themselves as iOS developers.
Baird found that iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 were the easiest platforms for which to develop. The rating for Windows Phone 7 on this point dropped slightly from last quarter, but "continued strength is a good sign for the long term success of the ecosystem," Baird said.
Symbian, meanwhile, received poor marks for ease of development, "so probably a good thing Nokia is moving to WP7," Baird noted. About 21 percent also felt that RIM's QNX was also difficult to develop for, but that is an improvement from 62 percent last quarter.
RIM and Apple also received top marks for app store visibility, though Baird said RIM's high score might be due to its large user base and small app eco-system. Android developers, meanwhile, were concerned about the "level of 'junk' apps" in the Android eco-system. This was less of a problem with Android 3.0 developers.
On that point, 51 percent of developers said the launch of Android 3.0 Honeycomb increased their interest in developing an Android tablet, though some said Honeycomb needed time to mature. Increased development on tablet-specific apps, however, could be good for HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and LG as they try to compete with iOS.
In early March, Google expanded its Fragments API to applications running older versions of Android, meaning apps that are compatible with Android 1.6 or higher can tap into Fragments to create apps that work on larger-screened devices like tablets.
Like those manufacturers, developers want to make money. Apple is still number one in terms of revenue generation, with 74 percent ranking it a number one or two. Android, BlackBerry, and QNX, however, all improved from last quarter.
"Developers mentioned that the demographic makeup of Apple's subscribers made them more likely to spend money on an app, a statement we generally agree with," Baird said.On the Windows Phone 7-Nokia front, about 66 percent of Symbian developers said they were more likely to develop for Windows Phone 7 after the Nokia deal. Only 7 percent were definitely not interested.
"We believe that moving a sizeable base of Symbian developers to WP7 will be a determining factor in the outcome of Nokia's adoption of WP7," Baird said.
Among non-Symbian developers, about 52 percent expressed an interest in the Windows Phone 7 platform in the wake of its Nokia deal. This could be positive for HTC, one of the only major OEMs that has invested in the Windows Phone 7 platform, Baird said.
Late last month, an IDC report said that Android is poised to become the number one mobile operating system in 2011, while the recent Nokia-Microsoft deal could propel Windows Phone to the number two position by 2015.