Developer interest in building applications for Apple’s App Store nearly tripled in January thanks, in part, to the introduction of the much-anticipated iPad. So says Flurry Analytics in its Friday report of the Smartphone Industry Pulse for January.
Flurry Analytics tracked data in more than 20,000 mobile applications to determine that developers who started applications that integrate its mobile analytics package into iPhone applications in January rose nearly three times from December.
Flurry reported developers started more than 1,600 new applications with Flurry. That compares to less than 600 in December and marks a dramatic new year surge — the largest since the company started tracking apps.
The iPad Effect
Flurry is calling the activity “the iPad effect.” Historically, Flurry has measured surges in new application starts within its system in anticipation of new device launches, including for the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS, said Peter Farago, Flurry’s vice president of marketing. That history led the company to speculate on the reason for the jump — and that guess is Apple’s iPad event in January.
“For developers who get a jump on customizing their applications for the iPad, there may be an opportunity to stand out early on and earn more downloads,” Farago said. “Android new-application starts are also growing, showing a steady ramp for the second half of 2009 and for January 2010. Over this time period, month-over-month growth has averaged approximately 25 percent.”
Android’s steady new-application growth over the second half of 2009 closed the gap against the iPhone. Android apps represented about 33 percent of new starts within Flurry for December. But the recent spike in Apple iPad support shifted popularity back in Apple’s direction at a level Flurry hasn’t witnessed in six months.
Developer Thumbs Up
Farago sees the unprecedented surge in support of the iPad as a positive early indicator of its…