VisionMobile, a mobile industry research firm, publishes analysis of app developer economics, platform openness, and Android and app store trends.
HN links it for its Developer Economics surveys on app developer earnings, IoT, and enterprise targeting, and its Android openness analysis.
That's very likely a simple function of cost: You can't do iOS programming without the (relatively expensive) mac hardware.
Also, the actual report is here:
http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/VisionMobile-Developer_Economics_2011.pdf
Other points from the (CC/BY) report:
Platform revenue potential. Not all platforms are born with equal revenue
potential. Our research revealed large discrepancies across platforms in terms of the
revenues applications are bringing to developers. iOS topped the chart, making 3.3x more money per app than Symbian developers followed by Java ME (2.7x) and
BlackBerry (2.4x). Android (1.7x), mobile web (1.6x) were the weakest performing
platforms in terms of revenue per app and only ahead of Symbian (1.0).
....
App store fragmentation is an under-hyped challenge for developers. Each of the
fifty-plus app stores available has its own developer sign-up, app submission process,
artwork and paperwork requirements, app certification and approval criteria, revenue
model options, payment terms, taxation and settlement terms. The marginal cost of
distributing an application through one more app store is significant, contrary to
popular perception.
....
Platform priorities For companies going mobile, platform priorities are mixed, but
the core challenge is common – market penetration and reach across the customer
base. Organisations developing B2C apps (targeted at consumers) are extending their
offering first Apple and then…
HTML5 is not the only way to achieve cross-platform. In native world, HTML5 is just "one of them". There are many cross-platform frameworks and you can choose any one you like. Look this report.
Cross-Platform Developer Tools 2012 | VisionMobile
http://www.visionmobile.com/product/cross-platform-developer-tools-2012/
> the landscape of 100+ cross-platform developer tools
Actually this is a big reason I dislike HTML5 (or I think HTML5 is wrong). Developers don't have freedom on languages and APIs. There are no healthy competition.
And don't forget that web browser itself is a multi-platform application. You can use Chrome and Firefox on Windows/Mac/iOS/Android. These are written in a "cross-platform language" C++.
In addition, most video games are written in C++ so many games are released on multi platforms (Xbox360/PS3/PC/iOS/Android). I suspect most web developers don't even know this...
Android.com only lists 4.1 as available. Either way, by only making source code available on the day of release it is by definition already old. That means development happens in the dark.
android was also deemed the least open of a bunch of high-profile open-source projects: http://www.visionmobile.com/rsc/researchreports/Open%20Governance%20Index%20%28VisionMobile%29.pdf
I don't know, but thought I'd mention that the latest Developer Economics survey from Visionmobile [1] covers IoT, and basically says (paraphrasing) "hardest survey sector to make money in, mostly a hobbyist exploration thing, no clear business model yet".
[1] http://www.visionmobile.com/product/developer-economics-state-of-developer-nation-q1-2016/
If the actual article http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2013/10/how-to-win-in-mobile-without-making-your-own-os/, is correct, why has Blackberry fallen so hard when you can run Android apps on it?
I don't think people actually by a device because of the apps that run on it. They are influenced more by advertising and friends.
Target the Enterprise. The 16% of App Developers who target the enterprise are 2x's more likely to earn over $5K per month. And 3x's more likely to earn over $25K per month.
http://www.visionmobile.com/product/developer-economics-q3-2014/