A recent survey conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster seems to confirm that mobile developers prefer coding apps for iOS.
Indeed, Munster surveyed 100 developers at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) about various mobile OS platforms, including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone.
Perhaps not unsurprisingly, especially given the venue, iOS was the clear winner. Nevertheless, says Munster, of the 100 developers surveyed, 55% also coded apps for Android, while 14% developed Windows apps and 9% wrote BlackBerry software.
“iOS was the clear favorite in two categories: ease of development and future revenue growth,” Munster wrote in an industry note obtained by Forbes. “Among the 55 developers who work with both operating systems, 84% said iOS was best for ease of development, with Android at 5%, Windows at 2% and 9% unsure.”
64% also believed iOS offered the highest future revenue potential, with 5% answering Android and the rest remaining undecided.
In other Apple related news, Cupertino’s 2012 profits are currently forecast to be highest of any public company ever. According to Brian White with Topeka Capital Markets, Apple’s real-world market cap potential is in the trillions of dollars, not billions.
“We went back and analyzed five US-based companies (Cisco Systems, Exxon-Mobile, General Electric, Intel, and Microsoft) that at one time enjoyed market capitalizations of (about) $500 billion or more, but found little similarities with Apple,” he wrote in an industry note obtained by AppleInsider. “With the exception of Exxon, these companies had rich price-to-earnings ratios when they crossed the $500 billion mark, and the tech companies had monopoly-like market share positions.”
Unlike some of the above-mentioned companies, Cupertino does not yet have a stranglehold on most markets where it competes. As such, there is still plenty of room for growth in the booming smartphone market.
“Microsoft held over 90% market share for PC operating systems at the peak cap, while Cisco had over 70% share in the networking market and Intel had over 80% of the PC processor market,” said White.
“By comparison, IDC estimates that Apple held just 4.7% of the PC market in (the first quarter of 2012) and 8.8% share in the mobile phone market.”
Therefore, says the analyst, Apple is poised to generate the highest profits of any publicly traded company ever. To be sure, compared to the “big three” technology companies that have exceeded a $500 billion market cap, Apple’s net income will over over six times higher on an individual basis – compared to when the above-mentioned companies were at their respective peaks.
