As the year draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect on what we’ve
accomplished together in 2012. Our big goal this year was to establish a
new, scalable platform on the phone and in the cloud upon which we can
better achieve our mission: to provide a confident, convenient and
customized app experience for our customers across the world, and enable
developers to rapidly innovate and realize opportunity.
We literally set a new foundation this year with the deployment of
all-new infrastructure – new client platform, new developer toolset, new
Dev Center, new catalog infrastructure, and all-new global service. I
know transitions can be frustrating, but it is now complete and
customers and developers are already beginning to reap the benefits with
a better app and store experience, faster performance and more robust
tools.
Focus on customer experience
As a direct result of our investments, Windows Phone customers now
download, buy, and use more apps than at any time since we first
launched Windows Phone 7 two years ago. On average Windows Phone users
have downloaded 54 apps each to personalize their phone experience
around the people and information they care about most. This high and
growing level of customer engagement reflects our focus on 3 key
customer promises:
Confidence. Establish high confidence level in the store and the apps it
offers. Confidence is built by testing and certifying every app and
game to help protect customers from malware and viruses. Over the last
year we’ve certified and published over 75,000 new apps and games (more
than doubling the catalog size) and over 300,000 app updates. In
addition, this year we added the capability for customers to tell us if
they have a concern about an app.
Convenience. Make app discovery and purchase convenient. Over the last
year we’ve made a lot of discovery enhancements including Bing-powered
search and smart lists, as well as new collections and recommendations
for Windows Phone 8 customers. We’ve also made the purchase experience
easier than ever by expanding payment options to include PayPal and
Alipay, and doubling the number of carrier billing connections.
Customization. Enable users to create their own app experience. Live
Apps are an example of this, surfacing information from the app right on
the Start screen. Based on customer feedback, 85% of Windows Phone 8
users indicate they would choose Live Apps over those without. It’s our
job to empower you with the tools and APIs to build these unique
experiences.
Create opportunity for developers
The release of the new developer platform for Windows Phone 8 and its
shared core with Windows 8 significantly expands the opportunity for
innovation, customer reach and monetization for developers across the
globe. Even though Windows Phone 8 just started shipping in the last 7
weeks and most developers are still creating new or updated Windows
Phone 8 apps, we have already seen an increase in developer revenue
month over month, up 40% in the 30 days since the SDK release. We
anticipate that to grow with new hardware sales and as apps with the new
capabilities like in-app purchase begin to reach customers. Our
commitment to creating opportunity for developers is focused on 3 key
tenets:
Innovation. Establish Common UX Design Language. With Windows 8 and
Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has created a common, compelling user
experience design to accelerate and simplify how users interact with
their devices. And we have added a rich set of shared APIs and a
consistent toolset, so developers can create innovative experiences for
both Windows and Window Phone users.
Customer Reach and Engagement. Create a global distribution opportunity.
Over the course of 2012 we expanded the number of markets where users
can get apps and games for their Windows Phones by over 5x, from 35
markets at the start of the year, to 63 with the spring release to over
95 and counting with Windows Phone 7.8 (testing isn’t complete, the
final count may increase) and finally to 191 markets with Windows Phone
8, representing over a 90% increase in addressable market for your apps.
We have also invested in giving developers access to better reporting
and deeper insight into customer feedback.
Monetization. Support multiple business models to create a diverse app
catalog. In 2012 we added in-app purchase capabilities (for both
durables and consumables) in addition to the existing advertising, trial
and paid app business models already available. Enabling new business
models isn’t enough; the payment options customers prefer must also be
available. This year’s expansion added some of the most popular
including PayPal, Alipay and a large expansion of carrier billing (six
new carriers in the last 3 weeks alone). Carrier billing when offered,
for example, is preferred by 75% of the Windows Phone users who have
access to it and drives over 2x paid downloads compared to credit card
billing.
We exit 2012 with a new foundation firmly in place, a huge expansion in
developer opportunity, and a great new product in Windows Phone 8, which
is receiving acclaim by both industry and consumers. There has never
been a better time to develop for Windows Phone. If you haven’t already,
we’d like to invite you to visit the Dev Center to download the new SDK
and for those of you who have made the journey with us, I want to say
thank you on behalf of the entire Windows Phone team. Your feedback
drives us and your apps inspire us.
Thank you and Happy New Year!
