

100,000 apps published to Windows Phone Marketplace - Avalaxy
http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/news/item/14960_100000_apps_published_to_Windo.php

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daeken
That's neat and all I guess, and as an avid WP7 user I'm glad to see the
market continuing to grow, but I have some serious issues with the number of
_published apps_ including... _unpublished apps_. Of those 100k "published"
apps, 10.32% are unpublished. So the number of actual published apps is closer
to 90k than 100k, and that's not even considering the 1.51% of apps that are
otherwise not available on the store. That's pretty deceptive to me, not that
the absolute numbers really matter here.

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freehunter
They do explain it:

 _In common with other application stores, the total number of published items
is not the same as the number of items available to consumers. Of the 100,145
items published to the Marketplace, 10,357 are no longer available (withdrawn
by Microsoft or unpublished by the developer), a further 1,492 items are in
staging (awaiting an update, in beta or not live for some other reason). That
means there are 88,371 apps currently available for download (live) on the
Windows Phone Marketplace._

Seems like every other store does that as well. It's no more deceptive than
the common "units shipped" metric done by brick and mortar stores.

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cageface
I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that this whole native app
market is going to implode in the next few years. Even the "high quality" iOS
app store is stuffed to the gills with junk apps now and the majority of the
few apps that are making real money are trading on gimmicks that are bound to
exhaust their novelty soon enough.

I'm actually rooting for Windows phone though because if it gains any real
traction and people have to start maintaining _three_ separate code bases for
every app the balance is going to tip decisively to the mobile web.

~~~
Avalaxy
Take a look at MonoDroid (<http://xamarin.com/monoforandroid>) and MonoTouch
(<http://xamarin.com/monotouch>). C# for 3 platforms: WP7, Android, iOS.

Mobile web will never have the same benefits that a native app has: high
performance, less data to transfer, nicely integrated in the OS (live tiles,
etc.).

~~~
cageface
I actually have dabbled with it and I think Xamarin has done some very
impressive work there. But most of the work in the typical app is in the UI
and you still have to essentially rewrite that for every platform with Mono.
For some apps it could still be a net win.

Native has the same advantages on the desktop but that hasn't stopped it from
being pushed out of mainstream app development and into a few select niches.

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moondowner
> 1,492 items are in staging (awaiting an update, in beta or not live for some
> other reason)

So only 1,492 apps have been created on student competitions (or some similar
challenges)? (I guess that's why they have been submitted and haven't seen a
single update, kudos to those students who continued developing the apps).

My point is: I expected a higher number after all that heavy campaigning on
universities and faculties (Windows Phone Camps and etc etc).

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IanDrake
The real problem is that many apps _that matter_ aren't available as first
party apps. No Pandora, no Instagram, No Pinterest, no Path, etc...

While Angry Birds is available, the Angry Birds in Space(?) is not.

High numbers are needed for marketing, but there's still a big hole in the
market place. I think windows8 and wp8 will greatly improve the situation
though.

~~~
joejohnson
I think you are right, but I don't think Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 will
help this situation. The fact is, users like to assume that if a company
builds an app, it will be available on their phone. This is true for users of
iPhones and, to a lesser extent, Android phones. This is far form true for
users of Windows Phone. Regardless of all the bells and whistles added to WP8,
this platform will remain an also-ran to the duopoly established between iOS
and Android.

~~~
freehunter
If Windows 8 gains traction (which let's be honest, it will just by virtue of
being Windows), apps will follow. This might not translate into more WP sales,
but it can't hurt the Windows Phone Marketplace. Some developers will go the
extra 10% required to move their app to Windows Phone.

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jcromartie
> Proportion of quality apps (rated five or more times) stable at 8% (UK
> rating) 12% (US ratings)

So, really 10K apps that people are actually using. That's still a lot of
apps.

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mtgx
I just wish they stopped with the "we have fewer apps, but are higher
quality". I very much doubt that is true. In fact, if anyone did a survey,
they'd probably find out that on average WP7 apps are poorer than on iOS or
Android.

There are a lot of developers that just "rushed into it" and patched something
together just to say they have an app on WP7, and maybe even get paid by
Microsoft or get freebies from them.

~~~
ksk
[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870355420457611...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703554204576112723686094898.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEADSecond)

~~~
fpgeek
Interestingly, that article is from January 2011. Off the top of my head, at
least, I can't think of any apps that seem related to Google's reported
mobile-app hiring spree.

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Toshio
Related: TechCrunch had an article a while ago about the dubious nature of
many apps in that marketplace: [http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/09/windows-
phone-has-a-nasty-p...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/09/windows-phone-has-a-
nasty-porn-addiction/)

