Windows Phone Marketplace Has Experts Modestly Optimistic

By: Hillel Fuld

Distimo is at it again, and as usual, its reports do not disappoint. While iOS and Android continue to dominate the press buzz, Windows Phone, along with its newly formed Nokia deal is slowly creeping up on the market. With 40,000 live apps for Windows Phone devices and raving reviews of the new Nokia Lumia devices, the predictions that Windows Phone will steal the second place OS from iOS by 2015 are not as unrealistic as they were a year ago.

Well, Distimo, the leading name in reports on the mobile industry released its latest monthly report and it is all about Windows Phone. Some of the numbers are super impressive, some a little less, and others, well they are going to require some work on the part of Microsoft.

You can sign up to view the whole report here, but I figured I would provide some highlights. The following are some of the most interesting numbers regarding the up and coming Windows Phone platform and specifically its app store the Windows Marketplace:

• The Marketplace is now available in 35 countries.
• 700 new publishers join the Marketplace every month.
• The app download numbers of the Marketplace are still 39 times lower than the iTunes App Store.
• In terms of app stores, the Marketplace is the 5th largest in size, behind Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Nokia.
• At its launch, 70% of the mobile apps in the Marketplace were paid apps.
• Paid apps increased steadily over the past 12 months, with nearly 1,300 new apps per month.
• Free apps grew by 1,650 new apps per month.
• Like other app stores, games are the most popular category on Windows Phone, whether free (33% of the top 100) or paid (54% of the top 100).
• In terms of downloads, the U.S. leads, with 101,000 free app downloads and 20,000 paid app downloads per day.
• In comparison to iPhone, those numbers are low with the App Store getting 43 times more free downloads and 16 times more paid downloads daily.
• Outside of the U.S., the other top download spots include Germany, the U.K., France and Italy, which hold spots 2 through 5.
• Nearly half of the applications are only available in the original 17 countries and not in all 35.

As I said above, the Distimo report is clearly a mix of some promising data as far as the Microsoft platform is concerned, and some more worrisome information. If you have been one of the lucky ones to play with the new Lumia device or other Windows Phone devices for that matter, chances are you were impressed, at least as far as user experience is concerned.

The Marketplace will be the determining factor in the success or lack thereof of this new OS, and from where I am sitting, Microsoft is making all the right moves to bring developers on board.

Personally, in regard to the future of Windows Phone, I am optimistic, something I would not have said even six months ago.

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