| It is our pleasure to release our monthly Distimo Report, based on December 2009 data. |
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This report covers five application stores: Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store and Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
This month’s most important findings are:
You can download the report here. |
| This report was covered on TechCrunch here. |
There are several announcements around Windows Marketplace for Mobile these weeks. Last week, Microsoft launched a Web Version of its store, allowing users to discover apps from the desktop.
Following the announcements that Marketplace would support older phones, the store is now available for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 phones. Consumers that do not have a brand new phone with Windows Mobile 6.5 can now also get Marketplace on their phone and start downloading apps.
To reach the announced 30 million consumers worldwide with access to the store, this was a required step for Microsoft. However, the reach will have to build up since users with an older Windows phone will have to install Marketplace manually first.
If you have a Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 phone, you can download Marketplace here.
Microsoft released the new Windows Mobile version 6.5. One of the new features is the Windows Mobile app store, called Marketplace. Initially, it will only be available on new phones with the newest version 6.5 operating system. Current Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 users will get access to the store later this year.
Windows Marketplace launched with 246 available applications. Microsoft previously announced that the store would contain over 600 apps at launch.
Windows Mobile Marketplace
Consumers that want to purchase applications can pay using credit card or operator billing with a selection of carriers. Marketplace also contains an operator specific section and will be rolled out in 29 different countries.
Windows native applications and widgets are accepted. At this moment it is not possible to submit Java applications. Both paid and free applications are supported. Developers are able to charge one time fees for their applications, or offer them for free. The revenue share for developers is 70%, in line with most competitor stores.
Microsoft also announced that the content in the store will be growing rapidly over the coming months. It will be interesting to see how the content and pricing will develop and if successful developers on other platforms will publish their content in Marketplace.
Developers that want to publish their apps in Windows Marketplace can go here.
The launch of Windows Marketplace is getting close. On October 6, the new Windows Mobile 6.5 with Marketplace will go to market. Marketplace is said to launch in 29 countries with minimal 600 available applications.
Microsoft states that the reach of Marketplace will be 30 million consumers worldwide. This is however including current Windows Mobile phones in the market that run the 6.0 or 6.1 version of Windows Mobile. According to Pocketnow, it will take several months before Marketplace will be available on these phones:
Pocketnow: How will older devices get Marketplace for Mobile loaded onto their phones? Would there be a CAB install file available?
Microsoft response: Additional details on using Windows Marketplace from a phone running Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 will be provided by the end of the year. Stay tuned.
Hence, only consumers who buy a new Windows Mobile phone will get access to Marketplace this year.
Support for older devices will dramatically impact the number of consumers that Marketplace developers will be able to reach. We will keep you posted when more news comes out.
Microsoft just announced that Windows Marketplace will launch on October 6. This is also the launch date of Windows Mobile 6.5, where Marketplace is included.
Marketplace will go live in 29 countries and according to Microsoft, it will be accessible for 30 million consumers worldwide.
Since the end of last month, developers have been able to submit their application for Marketplace. At its launch, we’ll be able to see if the previously announced 600 applications will be present.
There has been a lot of response on Nokia’s announced entrance into the netbook market, which was announced yesterday. Nokia will launch a netbook, called Booklet 3G. Launch date and more details will be announced on Nokia World on September 2.
The Nokia netbook is rumoured to run on Windows 7. We wonder if it will have an app store, and if so, which one? Other players in this field have made the switch from Windows to the Android operating system and are launching own app stores.
Nokia has its own Ovi Store, and the promotion video shows two interesting things:
 Nokia Ovi Services |
 Nokia Music Store |
See the full video here.
We think there are three options on how Nokia could include an app store on this netbook:
More details will be announced on September 2, during Nokia World in Stuttgart (Germany).
HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile
Yesterday, we covered Microsoft attracting iPhone developers to go for Windows Marketplace at its launch later this year. Now Handmark, which has been developing and selling mobile applications since 2000 in its storefront, announced the launch of HandMarket Apps for Windows Mobile.
The store supports current Windows Mobile 6.0 phones and up. This is the same as Windows Marketplace will support. There are 600 apps and games available, both free and paid.
HandMarket apps will initially only be available in the US. Consumers can pay for applications using credit card and operator billing for Sprint, Alltel and AT&T.
One big difference with the Handmark store and Microsoft’s own Windows Marketplace, is that Marketplace will be already present on new Windows Mobile phones, where HandMarket Apps can be downloaded from the Handmark website.
Windows Marketplace
Last week, Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace opened for developers to start submitting their applications. The store will open for consumers at the end of this year.
On the consumer side, Windows Marketplace offers big numbers. The store will be accessible for 30 million Windows Mobile users in 29 countries. On the developer side, Microsoft is trying to get a large selection of applications available in the store at launch.
Most of the app stores had around 500 applications available at their launch. This was the case for Apple, Nokia and Blackberry. Earlier, Microsoft announced that Windows Marketplace would go live with 600 applications. Now they are taking steps to increase that number by looking at the iPhone platform.
Microsoft published a case study for developers on how to port their iPhone applications to the Windows Mobile platform. At the launch of Windows Marketplace in a few months, we’ll be able to see how many iPhone developers launched their applications in the store.
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