When it comes to Apple’s iPhone vs. Google’s Android, there’s a “simple reality that will determine who comes out ahead in this Battle of the Titans,” Peter Burrows reports for BusinessWeek.
“It’s Apple’s first mover advantage. Already, thousands of developers have already created apps for the iPhone, and many are making real cash money on the more than 100 million apps that have been downloaded fromthe AppStore so far. Had Apple and Google announced their SDK on the same day, these developers may have created versions for both right away. That didn’t happen, though,” Burrows reports.
“Since Android came nearly six months later than Apple, many will likely take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to Android. That creates a chicken-and-egg conundrum for Android, seems to me. If top developers are waiting and seeing while iPhone sales zoom ahead, it could impact or at least temper Android’s ability to get off the ground,” Burrows reports.
“Take Pandora, the popular Internet radio site. It’s had huge demand for its service since setting up shop on the AppStore. “The iPhone eclipsed all of our other mobile Internet partners in about 12 hours,” says CTO Tom Conrad. As of my visit to Pandora earlier this month, 10% of its listenership was already on the iPhone—a huge number for what had been a PC-dominated service,” Burrows reports. “What about Android? While Conrad thinks its very promising, ‘we don’t have anyone working on Android. We want to be where our customers want us to be.’ Until those customers demand Android, it sounds like Pandora will keep its focus on iPhone.”
Full article here.
iPod touch. Never forget iPod touch. Add in the millions upon millions of iPod touch units already in action and those coming this Christmas — and beyond — and you’ll have an even clearer idea why developers are focused on Apple’s products over all others.
