All the news from yesterday’s iPhone event focused on the iPhone 4S, Siri, and the new iPod touch, but for me those were not the most important announcements. Apple has sold 250 million iOS devices. At this time last year, that number was 120 million. That is astonishing.
As a developer, numbers like that are motivating. Here are some more numbers from yesterday’s event that make me want to develop for iOS:
- Apple’s percentage of mobile OS installed base (a plurality): 43%
- iPhone year over year growth: 125%
- Percentage of Apple customers “very satisfied” with their phone: 70%
- New price of an entry-level iPhone: $0
If you are a mobile developer, and you’re not building for iOS first, you’re crazy. Sure, Android is big, and it’s also growing fast, but given the headaches of dealing with different hardware and different stores, there is no reason why any developer should be building for Android first.
