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fierce developer:用户移情别恋,开发商唱衰WP7平台

发布时间:2010-12-01 15:09:57 Tags:,,,,

微软应用商店Windows Phone Marketplace虽然开业还不到两个月,但运营成效已远胜之前的Windows Marketplace for Mobile。据应用商店分析调研机构Distimo最近的报告显示,截止11月22日,Windows Phone Marketplace的产品数量已达2674款,而Windows Marketplace for Mobile问世13个月,也才凑足1350款应用而已。在前者的100强应用榜单中,游戏占了40%,反观后者,游戏仅占100强应用的34%,可见微软确实在用心将WP7打造成一个更贴近用户的手机平台。

WP7's MarketPlace

WP7's MarketPlace

Distimo的数据还显示,在Windows Phone Marketplace的100强应用榜单中,57%的产品售价低于2美元,价格水平接近其他应用商店;但在Windows Marketplace for Mobile当中,同样价位的产品比例仅为37%,应用平均价格是6.27美元,远高于其他应用商店;而Windows Phone 7的应用却最为实惠,平均价格仅1.95美元。

不过,大量开发商反映,微软并不支持应用商店分析工具追踪应用软件的市场情况。Google Voice的客户应用GoVoice的开发者Nicholas Yu表示,“我到现在都不清楚GoVoice的销量到底是多少,而且也没有收到任何一张付费支票。”对于用户所提出的信息推送服务(Push notifications)要求,Nicholas Yu只能无奈答道,“设置推送服务功能对我来说是件极其危险的事情,因为我首先得先掂量能不能收回推送服务器的投入成本;一旦设置了推送服务功能,系统就会直接从我的支票中扣除费用,我对这事非常敏感……所以我得先知道有多少用户购买GoVoice才行。”另一名WP7平台开发商Justin James很认同他的观点,“在2011年2月份之前,我们在微软App Hub不会有任何进帐,而且App Hub至今没有任何内置的下载量追踪服务。这个平台有太多早该提供的服务,到现在还是迟迟不见踪影……除非你认为WP7是“非此不可”的开发平台(实际上这根本不可能),不然我还是建议你把WP7的开发任务当成一个消遣或者练兵的平台即可,在App Hub的问题彻底解决之前,不可当真认为WP7会是一个创收来源。”

即使微软已经扫清了这些小障碍,Windows Phone的用户消费潜力也仍然很成问题。据称微软专门拨款5亿美元巨资,为WP7的市场营销活动打造声势,但美国科技博客Boy Genius的投票结果显示,该手机平台在美国AT&T商店的中端市场前途不容乐观,大部分Windows Mobile智能手机用户会“变心”,今后将选择其他手机平台。另一家市场调研公司GfK最近的一项调查结果也指出,全世界仅21%的Windows Mobile用户表示会将手机操作系统升级到Windows Phone版本,而对苹果iOS忠贞不渝的用户比例却高达59%,RIM黑莓手机用户的同一比例为35%,谷歌Android的忠实用户是28%,即使是Symbian也有24%的拥趸。

由此看来,不光开发商对WP7平台怨气重重,用户对WP7也很不屑,足见WP7的前途仍然坎坷。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Developers in the dark on Windows Phone app performance

Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone Marketplace application storefront has been open for business for less than two months, but already it’s shaping up as a very different animal than its predecessor, Windows Marketplace for Mobile. App store analytics firm Distimo reports Windows Phone Marketplace boasts 2,674 applications as of Nov. 22–13 months after launch, Windows Marketplace for Mobile offers just 1,350 apps. Games make up 40 percent of the new store’s 100 most popular apps, compared to 34 percent in the old store, an evolution Distimo credits to Microsoft’s efforts to position WP7 as a more consumer-centric platform. Pricing patterns represent another major difference: 57 percent of the 100 most popular Windows Phone Marketplace apps are priced below $2.00, comparable with rival stores but a dramatic turnabout from Windows Marketplace for Mobile, where only 37 percent of bestsellers are priced below $2.00. And where Windows Marketplace for Mobile applications are more expensive than other stores, costing an average of $6.27, Windows Phone 7 apps are the most inexpensive in the segment, with an average price of $1.95.

The Distimo report heralds some of the first metrics to emerge from Windows Phone Market–multiple developers report Microsoft isn’t supplying app store analytics tracking their software’s performance. Nicholas Yu, the developer behind Google Voice client app GoVoice, writes “Currently I have no idea how many copies of GoVoice are sold nor did I receive a single paycheck.” In response to user requests to add Push notifications, Yu adds “Implementing Push is a very risky thing for me because I need to justify that the expenses will cover the maintenance cost of a Push server. If Push is implemented, the expenses are coming straight out of my paycheck, and that is very sensitive to me… I need to gauge how many people have purchased GoVoice.” Justin James, who built an Airport Status Checker app for WP7, echoes Yu’s sentiments, writing “There will be no payouts from [Microsoft's] App Hub until February 2011, and there is no built-in reporting on downloads as of now. These are all things that are supposedly coming, but for the time being they are desperately needed… Unless you consider Windows Phone 7 to be a ‘must do’ platform for development (which is quite unlikely), I suggest that you think of Windows Phone 7 development as a hobby or a learning experience rather than a source of revenue until the App Hub issues are sorted out.”

Even if Microsoft does iron out the wrinkles, there are still serious questions about Windows Phone’s consumer potential. Microsoft reportedly earmarked $500 million to market WP7–official sales data is unknown, but a recent Boy Genius Report straw poll indicates middling sales at AT&T stores across the U.S. More troubling, most current Windows Mobile smartphone owners are planning to jump ship when they purchase their next device–a new survey conducted by market research firm GfK reports that only 21 percent of Windows Mobile users worldwide will migrate to Windows Phone when they upgrade, behind Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS (with 59 percent of respondents planning to remain loyal), Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry (35 percent), Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android (28 percent) and Symbian (24 percent). With developers already gnashing their teeth and consumers turning up their noses, Windows Phone 7 faces a tough road ahead.(source:fiercedeveloper)


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