WP8 Apps. – Wrong end of the stick.

Filling the app. store with amateur apps. will not fix the problem.

• Microsoft has launched Windows Phone App. Studio which is a web based editor for the creation of Windows Phone apps.
• There is no requirement to know how to write code meaning that anyone can now build a Windows Phone application.
• This casts the net much wider and should help build the application numbers up from the current 160,000 closing the gap on Android and iOS which are around 800,000 or so.
• The problem that Microsoft faces is that only around 40% of developers (surveyed by Appcelerator) are interested in building Windows Phone apps.
• This compares very unfavourably to 90% for iOS and 78% for Android.
• Unfortunately sheer numbers of applications are not the problem.
•  It is the availability of quality applications that is hindering adoption of the platform.
• Availability of quality applications is the number one reason given when the phones are returned to the store and a massive increase in the number of DIY applications is not going to fix the problem.
• This is the issue that Microsoft and Nokia need to contend with.
• They need to convince the top developers to write high quality versions of their applications for Windows Phone as well as for iOS and Android.
• This is a classic chicken and egg problem but I think that it should be gradually overcome.
• This is going to take time and money which fortunately Microsoft has.
• Windows Phone has a lot to offer.
• The user gets terrific bang for the buck, all of the really essential functionality is there and it works an awful lot better than it does on Android.
• This combined with a meaningful improvement in app quality and proper marketing is what is needed for Windows Phone to really take off.
• The good news is that there is no real competition to be the third ecosystem and so grinding away at these problems should eventually deliver the desired results.
• Question is: how much patience do Nokia shareholders have?
• I suspect not much.