Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
One of the more unusual moments in Microsoft's retrospective of Windows Phone during 2012 from Todd Brix on the Microsoft blog was the avoidance of saying the 'big' number. He posted that 75,000 apps had been published during the year, but it's the next line that is classic burying the lede:
Over the last year we've certified and published over 75,000 new apps and games (more than doubling the catalog size) and over 300,000 app updates.
Yes, the Windows Store has passed 150,000 applications, but Microsoft is not making any fuss over it. The psychological 100,000 app mark was passed earlier in the year, and if Microsoft is of the opinion that they don't need to shout out every app milestone, then I am in agreement with them.
The hurdle of 'volume' has been overcome, the next step up is 'variety'.
There's no doubt that Microsoft's mobile platform has a decent level of traction with some developers, but it's an area that is going to need a lot of work during 2013. Microsoft needs to get the right developers onto the platform.
Look at some of the key apps on a mobile platform. Both the Facebook and Twitter applications for Windows Phone (as opposed to the integration into the Windows Phone People hub) are lacking many features of the web services, and lag significantly behind the official Android and iOS clients when new features are announced.
Then you start finding the gaps. Services like Instagram and Dropbox are notably by their absence. Many services have incredibly basic apps on the platform, such as Evernote, Yelp, and Urbanspoon, paying lip service to support but relegating the platform to a mental second division. Spotify is another interesting case – a Windows Phone 7 client was coded and released, but as it stands there's no indication of a Windows Phone 8 client coming to the new handsets.
And when you do have new services released, such as Facebook's 'Poke', they are invariably on the two mobile platforms with the largest market shares… not Windows Phone.
Microsoft can just about negate the argument of app volume, but they still need to get developers thinking Windows Phone in 2013. That means changing two perceptions. The first is the volume of users on the platform, the second is showing developers that the platform is financially viable.
Assuming that the increased sales of Windows Phone 8 devices that Steve Ballmer is promoting holds up during 2013, Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers need to be shouting about numbers as much as possible. Will they be as large as Android? No. As large as iOS? Probably not. But hard and fast numbers, accelerating sales curves, and a large addressable audience need to be something that is settled in the minds of everyone, rather than being based on a few assumptions and extrapolations. Good PR and constant marketing needs to be going on here.
Making the platform financially viable is harder. It's good that various tools are being made available to boost conversions from trial to full price, to make in-app purchasing a simple and straightforward process, and that suitable options are available for advertising in the mobile applications. It's the mindset of the start-ups where Redmond needs to get to work. Quite simply, when you begin a start-up that looks to mobile, you look to Android and iOS. You don't look at Windows Phone. If there's one New Year's Resolution Microsoft needs to make, it's to get Windows Phone heavily into the world of web start-ups.
That could mean making strategic investments with these companies to ensure they develop for Windows Phone, perhaps taking minimal stock to ensure that their platform as the applications. Maybe a 'tiger team' inside Redmond so start-ups can outsource the Windows Phone client at a fixed and predictable cost?
Windows Phone has a good hardware base, but now it needs to be aggressive and become an established part of the entire mobile landscape. Whatever it takes.
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