We’ve felt that Microsoft has done a good job building the app ecosystem for its Windows Phone 7 but it has been missing two major parts: app reporting and payouts for developers. Luckily, both of these will soon be addressed.
On its blog, Microsoft said that Windows Phone 7 program makers now have download reports so they can know how many people have actually checked out their apps. This provides raw data break-downs, as well as graphical views of daily and cumulative downloads.
This is very important for Windows Phone 7 developers because it can be tough to make some business decisions without download data. A Google Voice third-party app maker was complaining about this earlier because he didn’t know if it was financially viable to invest in a server for push notification because he had no idea how many many people were using his app.
Just as importantly, Windows Phone 7 app makers will also be getting payout reports in January, which is about a month ahead of schedule. This will include aggregated data and detailed views of payouts for Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile 6.X apps.
Despite the complaints we’ve heard, Microsoft has done a solid job of jump starting the app ecosystem for this new smartphone platform. While the sales numbers for the handsets don’t appear to be blowing away the competition, the Windows Marketplace for Mobile seems to be quite healthy.
I think the Microsoft model for the app ecosystem should be inspiration for other companies which are trying to launch new smartphone operating systems like MeeGo. While a company ideally wants developers to be drawn to a platform by its merit and installed base, getting support out of the gates can be tricky. Microsoft paid some developers to create programs and partnered with major developers to ensure Windows Phone 7 launches with multiple apps that consumers would want.
[Via Windows Developer Blog]