Windows Phone users “get the short end of the...
Windows Phone users “get the short end of the app stick” compared to users of phones with the Android and iOS operating systems, said Scott Wallsten, the Technology Policy Institute’s vice president-research, in a blog post Wednesday. While some Windows…
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Phone features are “wonderful,” including the home screen’s Live Tiles and the People Hub, the operating system is on the wrong side of the network effects, Wallsten said. “Because the vast majority of all potential customers are on iOS or Android devices, it makes sense for developers to build apps for those platforms,” he said. “If apps are successful there, then maybe it’s worth building apps for a small platform like Windows Phone.” The Windows Phone OS made up about 2 percent of the mobile device OS market in 2012. Even some Microsoft developers have been unwilling to fully commit to developing versions of their apps for Windows Phone, Wallsten said, saying Skype’s app remains only a “preview” app in the Windows Phone store. While there are plenty of apps available for the OS, they look like something that came out of a “dollar store in Chinatown,” rather than including hugely popular apps like Instagram and Pandora, he said. But there is still hope that a “third mobile platform” could succeed and compete one-on-one against Android and iOS, Wallsten said, noting that Microsoft could invest some of its $66 billion in cash to grow Windows Phone’s penetration into the marketplace (http://xrl.us/bn8w9z).