Largest mobile developer study in history shows strong momentum for Windows Phone

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Results of the largest mobile developer study, spanning 115 countries and 6,000 participating developers has shown that more developers plan to start developing apps and games for Windows Phone than any competing platform. That may sound like something to celebrate, but we have to remember that 71 percent of developers who took part in the study already have work published for Android and 56 percent on iOS. That said, it's positive they're showing interest in Microsoft's mobile OS.

The study was commissioned by VisionMobile to track mobile ecosystems, developer mindshare and monetisation trends. The results and findings are interesting, yet not surprising. An example would be the average developer builds for 2.9 ecosystems simultaneously (a mash-up of Android, iOS and Windows Phone) with Android, iOS or HTML5 as their primary platform 84 percent of the time. This is down from 2011, showing the steep drop for BlackBerry and difficult battle between the Canadian company and Microsoft.

In the past we've looked at stories showing developers viewing the Windows Phone platform as a worthy investment, as well revenue per consumer reports. It's not all about market share either, the study shows 59 percent of developers who are building for just a single platform choose iOS first, while 49 percent choose Android. Nokia and Microsoft both offer developers the chance to win new hardware, services and hand out tools for free to drive interest and development, offering more affordable options for those looking to publish work.

Now that the platform is further securing the third position in the marathon, Redmond will certainly look to tackle developers to the ground and chain them up with the Xbox One and Windows 8. With the stores increasing in catalogue size, we're certainly witnessing progress, just like market and mind share. Just like Tesco's slogan: Every little helps.

Source: VentureBeat

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
28 Comments
  • That's what I'm talking about!!!
  • Cool. Can't wait for what's in store.
  • Literally
  • Yes!
  • Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'!
  • At some point there will be 50+ million Windows Phone users...someone would have to be an idiot to not support such a large install base. I'd be happy if Windows Phone became the Mac of smartphones.
  • Why so low? mac is only like 7% marketshare...
  • Mac ?? No please, they are at 5% :D
  • I read recently that they're only at 3%, with Windows still at around 95%. Though can't remember the site so can't link it. It's tiny anyway, in contrast of what media would have you believe. It's just that Macs are concentrated in media agencies, so the people making ads, tv shows and movies usually have them on hand to take screenshots or use as props.
  • On one site, I saw Macs at 7% worldwide and 12% US for the quarter ending in June.
  • I guess the devil's in the statistics; it all depends on which metrics are used and how the data is sampled. But it's still safe to say that Mac has a fairly minute market share in comparison to the leader, and this is highly concentrated depending on lifestyle and industry (which in turn contributes to more variance among reports).
  • That is exactly what I was thinking about for windows phone. I don't think well ever get that big honestly, android and IOS are growing to fast. We actually might become.. The Linux of smartphones..
  • 59% + 49% = 108%
  • The context is probably incorrect, numbers may be right.
  • Yeah, I was wondering about that, too. Sholokov's probably right about the context being off.
  • Idiot is android
  • Nice!
  • Keep on keepin on !!!!
  • I'm happy for Microsoft and Nokia, Microsoft has always been a patient company. Look at the Xbox everyone thought it would fail. Be behold the device has held on and grew for the last 12 years+
  • My thoughts exactly! That's how giants are made. They start small, but the trick is to keep on growing. The best is yet to come!
  • It helps when you have a pile of money to put behind something.
  • Average developer monthly revenue: IOS $5200; Android $4700; WP $3600... Now that is interesting considering how small WP is in comparison.
  • Indeed I know developers making more than the iOS average on WP only.
  • Thought the same.. Imagine if windows phone had the market share of even IOS.
  • I believe the momentum is going well for windows phone now
  • That's good, because I plan to buy Windows Phone devices for a loooooooooong time!
  • Do developer only make money on free apps when the ad is clicked on? Or do developers make money when ads show on the phones screen? Combination of both??
  • Usually a minute amount for impressions (views) - if any, because it's hard to judge if the ad is obscured or even visible - and most for taps. Hence why one reader on Windows Phone (was it Flow? Can't remember) has a feature where if you tap on one ad you get the full version of the app until it's closed (tombstoned).
    So if you really want to help devs with ad-supported apps, open an ad every once in a while, even if you close it without doing anything.