Microsoft: Over 150,000 Apps in Windows Phone Store

As the saying goes, it doesn't matter how many apps are out there. What matters is if any of the important ones are on the platform.

Spotify? Pandora? Instagram? YouTube? Gmail? True, you can always point out that most, if not all, of these apps have either a third-party implementations (that sometimes is better than the originals) or a decent alternative. Who needs Spotify when we have Xbox Music Pass?

Which leads to a second and far more insidious category of missing apps. The daily routine apps. Things that are too small and individual to hit radar screens of major blogs yet make our life so much more convenient. For example, Chipotle has an ordering app for iPhone, but not Windows Phone. Todoist, Asana, Remember The Milk have native apps for iPhone but not Windows Phone. And the list goes on and on. The result is that somebody with a Windows Phone handset has to constantly accept a less than optimal experience of a mobile site or end up losing a given functionality on the phone altogether. And now that the majority of mobile apps target both iOS and Android, Windows Phone being left out feels that much more painful.

I'm not sure what Microsoft marketing types are up to. If I were them, I would aggressively pursue all top mobile app makers, along with major brands, to have their Windows Phone version done, similar to what Nokia is doing. Call up CEOs, flatter them, dine them at a fancy restaurants, take out to a golf or a mountain bike, threaten them at gunpoint for Pete's sake!.. Do something! I'm pretty sure paying Pandora or Instagram to keep a freelancer or two in Eastern Europe to develop and maintain Windows Phone version of the service is far less expensive than buying useless TV spots nobody watches.

Stop smearing Google (even if you are right) and work out a deal with them to get proper access to YouTube, Gmail, and Voice, or better yet have them build apps for their services. Call it "Grand Bargain". Kiss Larry Page's ass if required: it's a relatively small ass, not much kissing is needed. I know quite a few people who abandoned Windows Phone or never got one because of the lack of support for Google stuff. At the very least, walk your distance. Let Google sweat a bit about spinning their "do no evil" mantra.

Finally, I don't understand why it took Microsoft three years to kick off AppCampus that gives people money to build interesting apps exclusive to the platform. If app adoption drives the platform, at $25-$50K per developer, you can build a whole suit of exclusives. And there bound to be gems found!

But this is besides the point. The big boys at Microsoft surely know what they are doing. They must have a plan...

Your logic is flawed. If 75,000 MORE than doubled the app count then there were less than 75000 to begin with. If there were 60000 on Jan 1, 75000 more than doubles that catalog but doesn't put it at 150k. That said, its probably really close to 150k

Number of supported markets is higher for WP8 than WP7.8. That is unfortunate given that many market is actually more suitable for WP7.8 devices given their lower price point.

Let's say the store had 50k apps. Add 75k. You've more than doubled, but haven't reached 150k.

Why is everyone reporting this with such a flawed logic?

nick.karasev wrote, in part:

"The situation is made even worse when you consider a simple tablet is all a vast majority of people require for their daily computing needs. Apple, Amazon, and Google have very mature and well-rounded offerings that start at $199."

Not sure I'd put Apple in the pile, but your point is a good one. I have no idea why Microsoft hasn't decided to compete on price. A $499 RT tablet is a very bad idea; a $199 one is an indulgence worth considering.

@satkinsn
I don't think price is the issue for work computing.
An RT tablet looks fine pricewise against a Notebook.

For consumers there is the iPad, and lower priced Android tablets. Whether MS need to get that low (or expect OEMs to do that) remains to be seen.