Well my world is nearly 100% iOS and the iOS community I meetup with is probably a 5:1 foreigner:japanese ratio, so I'm not sure how their preferences translate to the native community.
-Some of the guys work for big companies and others in little startups doing contract work on the side.
-I don't know anyone serious about iOS development that hasn't invested 100% in learning obj-c.
-I haven't noticed any popular frameworks mentioned.
As for how popular iOS development is I'm not sure, probably less popular than Android (Android handsets are really common). If you are asking in terms of work possibilities, I get offered at least one or two jobs every HN meetup I attend.
-Some of the guys work for big companies and others in little startups doing contract work on the side.
-I don't know anyone serious about iOS development that hasn't invested 100% in learning obj-c.
-I haven't noticed any popular frameworks mentioned.
As for how popular iOS development is I'm not sure, probably less popular than Android (Android handsets are really common). If you are asking in terms of work possibilities, I get offered at least one or two jobs every HN meetup I attend.