Apple iOS Trumps Google Android as Favored Platform for Enterprise Apps

While Apple is known to offer its iOS customers a plethora of gaming apps, it appears the company's operating system is also the best platform for making business-oriented applications for smartphones and tablets, according to a new survey of developers.

The joint survey of more than 3,500 developers worldwide found that developers are more focused on creating mobile applications for the enterprise on the Apple iOS platform, leaving the Google Android and Microsoft Windows 8 operating systems in the dust. Apple's iOS took a dramatic lead over Google's Android platform in the business app space in the Q2 2012 Mobile Developer Survey, with 53.2 percent of developers claiming iOS will win out, compared to the 37.5 percent of developers who said Android will come out on top.

This finding marks a significant change from the past three quarters when developers viewed iOS and Android as equal contenders in the enterprise app field. So what's changed? According to developers, the Android operating system is evolving more towards consumer play, with Apple's growth attributed to recent enterprise adoption of the iPad. Android tablets have seen less interest from business customers, due to regular reports of malware and fragmentation of the platform.

With Google losing traction among developers in the enterprise mobile app space, a key competitive space for Microsoft could be opening up. As optimism about Windows 8 tablets and Microsoft's Metro UI grows among developers, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can eclipse Android as the number two operating system priority for mobile enterprise app developers.

In a sign of the decline of the BlackBerry, just 2% of developers say this platform is the best option for enterprise apps. wJust a few years ago, RIM dominated the Business Smartphone market.

This survey was carried out by  market-reserch firm IDC as well as appcellerator.