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Developer interest in BB10 falls 17 percent, lags behind iOS, Android, and Windows Phone

Developer interest in BB10 falls 17 percent, lags behind iOS, Android, and Windows Phone

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A survey has found that developer enthusiasm for RIM's new OS, BB10, has fallen even lower.

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A survey has found that developer enthusiasm for RIM's new OS, BB10, has plummeted from 4.6 points out of 10 just three months ago down to 3.8 — a 17 percent decrease. According to the survey, which looked at developers' long-term outlook for mobile development platforms, the community feels similarly enthusiastic about BB10 and Adobe Flash / Air. RIM's current OS, BlackBerry 7, was less popular than Adobe Flash and only slightly more favorable than Samsung's Bada platform and the open-source webOS.

Results from the survey, which was carried out by Baird Equity Research, were published and analyzed by AllThingsD, which detailed a number of other interesting tidbits. In a separate question, it was revealed that 22 percent of BlackBerry developers polled have moved some of their development efforts over to Android, while nine percent have switched entirely to Google's mobile OS. Although the developers may still release their Android apps for BlackBerry devices via BB10's Android app compatibility feature, the exodus doesn't bode well for BB10 native app development.

"Many developers who planned to jump ship have already made the move."

Baird says that the number of developers switching from BlackBerry to Android is actually down from the last quarter. A spokesperson told AllThingsD that "many developers who planned to jump ship have already made the move, leaving a BlackBerry developer base that is smaller but increasingly loyal."

It wasn't only BlackBerry that suffered — interest in Windows Phone 7 also fell significantly in the period, down from 5 to 4.2 points — a 15 percent drop — but given Microsoft is gearing up to release Windows Phone 8, that's hardly surprising. Android and iOS remain strong at 8.7 and 9.3 points respectively, while the enthusiasm for the all-encompassing "Windows 8" mobile platform fared reasonably well at 6.3 out of 10. 71 percent of developers told Baird that the announcement of Windows Phone 8 had increased their interest in Microsoft's mobile platform.