Windows Phone applications set to cross 100,000 mark

Microsoft platform growing but still far behind rivals Android and Apple

Developers have now published over 100,000 applications for the Windows Phone platform as Microsoft's smartphone operating system continues to grow, although it still trails market leaders Apple and Android.

According to data compiled by dedicated Windows Phone site All About Windows Phone (AAWP), developers appear to be taking a greater interest in the system as it has taken just five months to double to 100,000 apps, having taken 14 months to reach the 50,000 landmark.

However, while over 100,000 apps have been published, AAWP noted that the number actually available to customers is 88,371, as 10,357 have been withdrawn, either by Microsoft or developers themselves. A further 1,500 are awaiting approval.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to V3 that it was still yet to officially cross the 100,000 threshold.

"We love the enthusiasm, but we're focused on the number of actual Windows Phone apps available to customers. We're not quite ready to ring the bell for 100k," they said.

Nevertheless, Microsoft will be hoping the figures catch the eyes of consumer and business users considering the platform. Windows Phone has mostly received positive reviews from critics and analysts but failed to gain any major traction in the mobile market.

This has hindered Microsoft's key partner in the smartphone space, Nokia, which has seen poor sales of its flagship Lumia devices hurt its financial performance.

While the growth of the platform is good news for Microsoft and Nokia, it is still a tiny number compared to the huge growth of Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms which both boast over 500,000 apps.

Ovum analyst Nick Dillon told V3 that although the growth of apps on the platform was good news for Microsoft other metrics that are a lot harder to measure are a better judge of a platform's popularity.

"The long-tail is important which is why having a large number of applications is good but the crux of the problem with using the overall number of apps as a metric is it doesn't provide any insight into more relevant areas such as the quality of applications," he said.

"However, things like user engagement, how often an app is use, how long they remain on the device before being deleted, these are a lot harder to measure," he said.

Dillon added that any future integration of the Windows 8 platform across all devices would prove a significant boost for Microsoft as it looks to catch-up with Android and Apple.

"We would expect some uplift for Windows Phone from Windows 8, as they have a very similar look and feel, and in time it would make sense to have a common developer platform to open up the amount of devices developers can write for."