Apple May Introduce 'Carrier Billing' to Spur Interest in iPhone Development

Strategy Analytics reveals in a new report - App Developer Attitudes and Behaviors - that Apple continues to attract application developers, but only thanks to the iPad, as iPhone is slowly losing its dominance in the smartphone segment.

The research firm says Android is holding steady while Windows Phone is gaining momentum. BlackBerry is almost erased from the books, their chart shows.

However, the iPhone is also experiencing a decline. The reason, according to Josh Martin, Director of Apps Research at Strategy Analytics, is that “Developers are tired of a few making the lion’s share of revenue.”

His firm sees “strong interest in fresh, emerging platforms and new business models, such as virtual goods and in-app advertising over the next year.”

In this respect, Apple is believed to introduce “carrier billing in emerging markets next year, which will extend the lead it has built in mature regions,” Strategy Analytics predicts.