There’s some thought-provoking new research by Javelin Startegy & Research that recommends that…
"financial institutions (FIs), issuers and finance-related vendors of mobile phone technology initiate focused marketing strategies to keep pace with the explosive rate—a jump from 4% in July 2009 to 27% in September 2010—of smartphones that use Google’s Android operating system"
One of the main reasons for this recommendations is that…
"Android owners are significantly more interested in using mobile phone technology than are all smartphone users and all consumers with a mobile phone."
For more numbers, take a look at Digital Transactions who interviewed the author of the report.
Despite this, 38% of Android users consider the OS to be either unsafe or very unsafe while the corresponding number for the iPhone is 28%. The author of the report thinks…
"as more and more Android users perform functions without problems, they will grow in confidence and the perception of security will be less of an issue”
While I believe there are many opportunities here for developers, I think the greater opportunities are with white label apps rather than custom development. Such products might include white-label app stores that sell real goods, white label apps that process transactions to the consumer’s chosen payment method and white label ticketing apps. Selling the same thing several times can be very lucrative.