I'm a fan of both iOS and Android — so I'm not in any way saying this out of disdain for Apple — but it seems that the mobile app space is clearly moving toward Android. Comparing the exponential growth rate of Android to that of the iPhone, it's hard to imagine that developers will consider "iOS first" strategies in 3-5 years. [0]
The author briefly addressed this point, saying something along the lines of "more installs doesn't translate into more customers," but this argument wasn't really fleshed out.
Working for a company that makes mobile apps for a broad range of Fortune 500 firms, I've noticed, anecdotally, a seismic shift in clients' attitudes toward Android. From financial services to biotech to retail, many clients have gravitated toward an "Android first" strategy and boosted customer engagement by doing so.
It is not just the fact that the whole iOS experience is more expensive - both hardware and software are more expensive on average - but also the fact that the extreme control exerted by Apple over 'its' products ticks off many. For some reason the myth keeps on being propagated that many users of Android would gladly move to iOS 'if only they could afford it'. While there might be some who would do so, in my experience the majority would not as they prefer the relative freedom of choice which Android provides over the controlled experience which is iOS.
Raw growth is a horrible metric. iOS is by far beating Android in revenue and overall usage amount. It's continuing to grow even more. [0] Android devices are shipping more raw phones but that's really not your target market. Apple again is well in the lead for users that pay for the app/buy in app purchases/subscribe to services. [1]
The author briefly addressed this point, saying something along the lines of "more installs doesn't translate into more customers," but this argument wasn't really fleshed out.
Working for a company that makes mobile apps for a broad range of Fortune 500 firms, I've noticed, anecdotally, a seismic shift in clients' attitudes toward Android. From financial services to biotech to retail, many clients have gravitated toward an "Android first" strategy and boosted customer engagement by doing so.
[0] http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/06/800-million-android-smartp...