ABI Research (News – Alert), which provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies, has revealed its findings on the future of HTML5 in the development of iOS apps. The research has now found that there is a tendency to view HTML5 as a single, monolithic technology, when in fact, it is a combination of several inter-related features. Second, the research has found that commentators are still advocating for niche-specifics when it comes to HTML5, in essence disqualifying the technology as lacking potential for the industry’s web.

A look at market data, however, reveals something quite different. It is estimated that by 2014, over two billion mobile devices will have HTML5-compatible browsers. However, within the same period, adoption of various features will still be way below the market potential. HTML5 audio and video tags are already the fastest-growing elements with a combined base estimate of 700 million mobile web users utilizing them by 2014. Web-based push notifications will still lag behind by 2014, with only 100 million leveraging them.

ABI Research rated 575 top iOS apps on different app segments to assess the impact by their mid-term HTML5 feasibility. The rating was done on a scale of one to four, with four being a high score.

 According to Aapo Markkanen, a senior analyst at ABI Research, “Of the apps within our sample, 32 percent warranted a score of 4, which means in terms of use cases and user interfaces they could be built as web apps, or as web-heavy hybrid apps, within 18 months’ time. However, in many big-ticket categories, the majority of titles are distinctly native. Games, productivity, utilities, music apps won’t have much to gain from HTML5 anytime soon.”

These findings are used to identify how advances in areas like HTML5, NFC and augmented reality are translating into developer activity and how these enablers can reshape the future of the industry.

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