The creation of new Android-related open source projects accelerated rapidly in 2012, far outpacing new iOS projects, according to data released today by Black Duck Software.

New Android mobile projects outstripped iOS projects by a factor of four in 2012, expanding by no less than 96% in each year since 2007. New iOS project growth, by comparison, was 32% from 2011 to 2012. The analysis of open source mobile project data pulled from the Black Duck KnowledgeBase, a repository of data containing about one million open source projects, and Ohloh.net, the public directory of free and open source software, looked at the growth of mobile open source projects over a five-year period beginning in 2007.

Over 15,000 new Android mobile projects were launched in 2012, bringing the total number of Android projects in the KnowledgeBase to more than 28,000. New projects associated with the iOS platform numbered nearly 2,500 in 2012, with a cumulative total of more than 7,000 projects. All other mobile platforms accounted for fewer than 500 new projects in 2012, for a total of fewer than 2,000 projects over the 2007-2012 period.

“As the growth of open source has continued to evolve and shape attitudes toward the commercial value of software, it has begun to fundamentally alter a variety of software markets,” said Stephen O’Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. “Black Duck’s data on mobile OSS growth is yet more evidence of this.”

“Mobility is forcing IT organizations, IT suppliers, and traditional manufacturers to re-invent who they are and what they do, from healthcare to financial services to the automotive industry,” said Peter Vescuso , EVP marketing and business development, Black Duck. “And that re-invention is occurring in a fundamentally new way, with open innovation fueled by the growth and influence of the open source community.”

For a chart showing cumulative growth for Android and iOS projects from 2007-2012, visit http://www.blackducksoftware.com/files/images/Cumulative-Open-Source-Mobile-Projects.png.

For more information on Black Duck Software visit www.blackducksoftware.com.