iPhone app developers: Where do they come from?

Apple’s application platform for the iPhone — and soon, iPad — has proven far more popular than any other, including Facebook. Both in terms of supply and demand, Apple’s app market is far and away the biggest.

The latest monthly report from mobile app analytics company Flurry tries to break down Apple app developers into categories. Where did they come from? Flurry sorted them into six categories. From most to least populous:

1. Online: Companies who began on the web including e-Commerce, social networks, online gaming, streaming music, etc. (e.g., Google, eBay, Facebook, Pandora, PopCap, Zynga)
2. Native iPhone: Companies founded to create applications for iPhone (e.g., Freeverse, PageOnce)
3. Traditional Gaming: Video game companies from console, portable or PC (e.g., EA, Activision).
4. Traditional Media: Companies established on Film, TV, Print and Radio (e.g., Disney, TBS, NYT)
5. Retail & CPG: Brick-and-mortar companies or ones that manufacture goods (e.g., The Gap, DKNY, Kraft)
6. Mobile: Companies having started on J2ME, BREW, BlackBerry, etc. (e.g., Digital Chocolate, eBuddy)