The dominance of Android and iOS has “obscured the proliferation of connected device models”, making it difficult for developers to optimise apps to target the biggest user base, Flurry said.

“Developing apps on the device models that represent the majority of devices currently in active use has become an expensive and time-consuming process. Not optimising or testing apps on devices being used by even a minority of people exposes developers to negative user experiences and potentially to buying expensive devices to troubleshoot problems as they arise,” it noted in a blog post.

During January, the analytics firm detected 2,130 different devices models with active users, including 500 products which had a user base of at least 175,000.

It was noted that just over 7 per cent of device models account for 80 per cent of active users.

While there is one obvious choice for developers – the device platform to support – that is followed by a number of other options. For example, apps may be required to support older versions of a platform, forked versions of Android (such as for Kindle Fire), smartphones or tablets, and the increasingly diverse range of screen sizes.

More positively, the number of devices generating the most app sessions is more concentrated. Flurry said that eight device models were responsible for 50 per cent of app sessions, while 72 models increased this to 80 per cent.

While this is “still a lot”, it is fewer than half of the models required to reach 80 per cent of active devices.

This fragmentation could make it harder for independent developers to compete effectively, since they are unlikely to have the resources to support the growing range of devices in use, Flurry warned.

“They may also be disadvantaged in economies of scale in promotion (including word of mouth) if their apps are not available or do not work well on most device models. Scale is likely to be increasingly important when it comes to app development and that may lead to consolidation within the app development industry,” it said.