By Michele Mackenzie

The research findings are not surprising as Google, leveraging its dominance in the Internet domain, is fast establishing itself as a strong partner in the mobile applications environment.

Given that mobile operators have put increasing efforts behind API exposure it is perhaps disappointing that only 25% of the respondents were supporting or planned to support mobile network operator APIs; particularly when 31% of our sample was using or planned to use Facebook APIs. This clearly illustrates that mobile operators have their work cut out but it is still early days and they are not out of the race.

When selecting partners for application development, the top requirements are ease of development (70%) followed by breadth of platform functionality (69%), good-quality SDKs (68%), and flexibility/innovation (63%).

In terms of actual channel partners, Apple’s App Store topped the charts, with 74% of respondents distributing or planning to distribute their applications through it. Android Market, BlackBerry App World, and Windows Marketplace for Mobile all scored well with more than 50% of the sample supporting them.

Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst at Ovum, comments that “Rather surprisingly the operator portal or application store was not, as one might have expected, the poor relation to the device vendor stores.” A respectable 51% of respondents were using the operator as a channel or planned to do so. “Operators are generally perceived as good channel partners because they provide many of the core partner attributes and also support some or all of the devices offered by their rivals listed above.”

When selecting a channel partner for distributing applications, reach is the top priority for developers (32%). Put simply, they want to get services in front of as many people as possible. Geographic and local presence is ranked second (12%), followed by technical support (10%). Issues relating to business models such as costs, flexibility, and revenue share received a lower ranking, but this should not be taken to mean that these things are not important. It is more a question of getting the fundamentals in place as a priority.

About the author

Michele Mackenzie is independent technology analyst at Ovum, and is available for comment. To arrange an interview or for further details regarding this release please contact Joe Dixon in the Datamonitor press office on + 44 (0)161 238 4083, or email jdixon@datamonitor.com. For US, please contact Alan Sott on +1 570 687 9315. For Asia-Pacific, please contact Tanisha Kaul on +61 (0) 9601 6723. For India, Middle East and Africa, please contact Aartee Sundheep on +91 40 6672 9586.

About Ovum

Ovum provides clients with independent and objective analysis that enables them to make better business and technology decisions. Ovum research is based on independently audited methodologies that ensure that our clients can base decisions on rigorous and fact-based research, rather than on unqualified and unjustified opinions. The research draws upon over 400,000 interviews a year with business and technology, telecoms and sourcing decision-makers, giving Ovum and our clients unparalleled insight not only into business requirements but also the technology that organisations must support. Ovum is part of the Datamonitor group.