Year One – Windows Phone Marketplace

There is a lot of talk about the Android and Apple (iOS) Apps stores and the tons of apps available on them. But what’s happening to the Windows Phone Marketplace after one year? (BTW, in the interest of candor I would like to note at the beginning of this article that we are the Microsoft Mobile Partner of the Year and have developed a variety of applications for not only Microsoft but a variety of large publishers as well as developing iOS and Android apps).

There is a business called Distmo (https://www.distimo.com/), a mobile analytics firm, that keeps track of all paid and free apps that are being downloaded across all mobile apps. I took the time to peruse some of the statistics and I was pleasantly surprised…from my point of view the number of Windows Phone applications has grown solidly over the last year.

For example, at the end of October 2010 there were approximately 3,500 apps. And at the end of October 2011 there were a little less than 35,000 apps. That’s a growth of almost 10x and if we were to average that out it would be an increase of around 3,000 apps a month.

Now I know that may not seem much in comparison to the Apple and Android stores, but I think there are some definite bonuses to the apps that we can find on the Microsoft Windows Mobile Marketplace. There was a leveling off in June and July but that was due to Microsoft slamming the door on SPAM apps by limiting the number of apps a developer could publish in a day.

It is also interesting to see the breakdown of Free and Paid apps. While you might guess that games would be #1 for both Free and Paid apps, Tools and Productivity came up a healthy 20% (Free) and 12% (Paid) applications. If I get more time in the future I’ll do some comparisons between iOS and Android, but I would guess that Entertainment would be a much larger % for them. I can say for myself that I am more focused on productivity apps because I use my Windows Phone for business more frequently. The joke that I frequently hear is that people don’t need 200 weather apps.

HIGHEST RANKED FREE APPLICATIONS WINDOWS 7 PHONE MARKETPLACE – UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 2011

• YouTube – by Microsoft Corporation – Music & Video Free
• Adobe® Reader® – by Adobe Systems Inc. – Tools & Productivity – Free
• Minesweeper – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Puzzle & – Trivia – Free
• Facebook – by Microsoft Corporation – Social Free
• Sudoku – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Puzzle & – Trivia – Free
• FastBall 2 – by Klik! Games – Games – Platformer Free
• Bubble Shoot – by Words Mobile – Games – Puzzle & – Trivia – Free
• Penguin – by Mike Newman – Games – Family Free
• ESPN ScoreCenter – by ESPN Inc – Sports Free
• Wild West – by AndreAlberto – Games – Shooter Free

HIGHEST RANKED PAID APPLICATIONS WINDOWS 7 PHONE MARKETPLACE – UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 2011

• Angry Birds – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Action & – Adventure – $2.99
• Fruit Ninja – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Action & – Adventure – $2.99
• Gravity Guy – by Miniclip – Games – Action & – Adventure – $2.99
• Fight Game: Rivals – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Action & – Adventure – $2.99
• Need for Speed™ Undercover – by Electronic Arts – Games – Sports & – Recreation – $4.99
• SONIC THE HEDGEHOG™ 4 Episode I – by SEGA – Games – Action & – Adventure – $6.99
• IonBallEX – by Ironsun Studios – Games – Action & – Adventure – $2.99
• PvZ – by PopCap Games – Games – Strategy & – Simulation – $4.99
• Cro-Mag Rally – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Racing – & Flying, Games – – Sports & Recreation – $2.99
• Tentacles – by Microsoft Studios – Games – Action & – Adventure – $4.99