Apple Grows a 'Developer Ecosystem'

I'm in the midst of writing an analysis piece for Yankee about what Apple's announcement of its iPhone Software Development Kit means for enterprises. But here's the short version:

Apple (AAPL) just showed everyone how to grow a developer ecosystem.

Apple kicked off the announcement by giving enterprises features they had requested to approve iPhone uses in business, including:

• Microsoft (MSFT) ActiveSync built in for secure push email and remote wipe and Exchange integration,
• 802.1x and WPA2 WiFi security,
• Cisco (CSCO) VPN support for secure communication

But then Apple kicked things up a notch with the SDK details, which included:

• Complete integration with Apple's existing developer framework, Xcode,
• Performance analysis tools to make apps run fast on the iPhone
• Access to nearly every API on the device, including OpenGL, multi-touch, WiFi, accelerometers
• A full iPhone simulator to help with debugging.

Just to prove this wasn't hype, Apple gave the SDK to a group of companies for about two weeks to see what they could do with it. Each of those companies created versions of their applications in that time, including Electronic Arts' Spore, Salesforce's Salesforce Automation Epocrates's instant messenger, Epocrates' Drug Identifier, and Sega's Super Monkey Ball. Not bad for two weeks of work.

But the real surprise was Apple's efforts to market and develop an ecosystem for third-party iPhone development. Marketing and distribution terms were:

• All third-party applications will be distributed through a new iPhone AppStore. Developers wishing to do so pay a $99 fee, but can set their own prices for their apps, including free should they choose to do so.
• iTunes will have a part of its store dedicated to third-party apps and promoting the top downloads. Developers get 70% of revenues for paid apps.
• Kleiner Perkins is launching a $100 million iFund to fund iPhone developer companies. That means money shouldn't be a barrier to getting an great third-party iPhone software business off the ground.

Now I know that not everyone will agree with all the details, and I think everyone expected Apple to seed iPhone development with its SDK. But what Apple actually did is till the ground for development with enterprise features, seed it with the SDK, water it with marketing and distribution, and fertilize it with cash. If third-party apps don't grow with that kind of support, nothing will.

Comments

[artman1033]

Thank you for showing us the big picture Carl

[stevenhmiller]

Most programmers develop on the Windows platform. An SDK that is ported to those programmers would yield a greater number of apps. Tools for developing Apple appications are limited compared to developer tools on the Windows platform. Why not be able develop your apps on either with a test interface on both platforms? Seems like Apple would do a heck of a lot better and reach a lot more programmers that are intrigued with the iPhone, but are Windows opinionated.

[PK deC'ville]

Steven,

Point made, but look at this: Apple wants lots of developers using the OS X (Mac OS X) SDK. The more, the merrier. The number of developers a platform has presents significant competitive advantage to that platform. Aside from the complexity, delay, and cost your solution would add, Apple wants to TEACH it's SDK.

Every added developer is a plus and, who knows? maybe the iPhone/Mac SDK will move to market parity w/ the Windows SDK. One thing for sure, developers will be delighted with the increased speed, capabilities, and elegance of Apple's SDKs.

Hopefully, the best and brightest developers will make the switch and develop many best in class apps for Apple's SDKs, perhaps not even porting to Windows.

[Tom B]

"Most programmers develop on the Windows platform"

When they see Xcode, they won't ever go back, no matter how much Ballmer stamps his feet. In maybe 2-3 years, there'll be more iPhones sold every year than Windows PC's, quite possibly.

[steveballmer]

Only MSFT has developers, developers, developers!