Android and Apple iPhone developers in growing demand

Number of roles for Android programmers up 424 per cent

The demand for Android developers in the UK has increased four-fold in the past year, reveals research published today.

Vacancies for developers with skills in using Google's Android mobile operating system have rocketed by 424 per cent since the beginning of 2010, according to specialist IT recruitment consultancy IntaPeople.

Meanwhile, the demand for iPhone developers rose by 263 per cent.

The company said that such rapid growth shows that it makes commercial sense for IT professionals to sharpen their development abilities on both the Android and iPhone platforms.

The overall number of iPhone-related positions in the market remains slightly higher than Android, with 1,239 jobs advertised between November 2010 and January 2011, compared with 1,047 for Android.

The research also revealed that the average salary for a developer with Android experience was £45,000, while those with iPhone skills can expect to receive £42,500.

"Given the substantial increase in the sale of Android handsets in the past year, it is not surprising that more businesses are recruiting individuals who possess the ability to develop for this platform," said Rob Samuel, IT manager at IntaPeople.

"In the past, developing applications for Android phones may have been perceived as something of a hobby, but these figures prove that it actually makes commercial sense to improve on these skills."