Cross-Platform Mobile App Software Development in the Curriculum

Abstract

Since its introduction in 2007, the Apple iPhone has changed our perception of how mobile phones should look and how consumers use them. At the same time the iPhone has helped to make Apple the most valuable company in America. However, even with its runaway commercial success, the Apple iPhone is not the current smartphone market share leader. Heavy competition from Google Android, Microsoft Windows Phone, and Research in Motion Blackberry, along with fickle consumers, keep the smartphone market from being dominated by a single platform. Recent statistics from market intelligence company comScore listed the U.S. Smartphone plat- form market share for January 2012 as 48.6% for Google Android, 29.% for Apple iOS, 15.2% RIM Blackberry, and 4.4% Microsoft Windows Phone (“comScore Reveals,” 2012). As an indi- cator of how quickly market share can change, the low market share for Windows Phone is pre- dicted to increase to 20.9% by 2015 (“IDC: Android”, 2012).