Microsoft and Nokia are spending $24 million to lure new developers to produce the next big apps, because companies prepare for the high-stakes Lumia launch. Nokia and Microsoft will each devote $12 million to a different program called AppCampus, which funds emerging developers at Aalto University in Nokia’s native Finland and encourages these to design apps for Windows Phone as well as other Nokia platforms.
The two companies are channeling lots of money into the new type of Windows Lumia phones, trying to build a niche area for first-time smartphone buyers drawn to the Windows name having a $100 million ad campaign for that phone’s U.S. launch. Analysts predict Lumia to win a 10 percent business towards the end of 2012, but that figure depends upon dynamic sales, that is not easy to meet if app selection is sparse.
Constructing a competitive app library is a challenge for almost any new operating-system, especially going against rivals like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, which boast thousands of popular apps in their markets. Consumers increasingly gravitate toward big app stores with many different variety, and Nokia and Microsoft likely must bolster their unique offerings to produce an effect around the smartphone market, creating a steep climb ahead.
Nokia and Microsoft are attempting to offset that by luring new and emerging talent. “The AppCampus program has become established to foster the development of innovative mobile phone applications to the Windows Phone ecosystem, as well as, Nokia platforms, including Symbian and Series 40, to generate a new generation of self-sustaining mobile startups,” according to the AppCampus website.
At the Electronics Show in January, one such start-up, BlueStacks, demoed a player able to bringing Android apps into Windows 8, potentially enabling greater than 400,000 apps to own on Microsoft’s Windows OS, however the fate from the small company’s invention is uncertain.
Both companies risk a great pour a great deal money into luring fresh talent, instead of attracting experienced developers on the new platform. However, many successful apps like Instagram and Angry Birds began as start-ups, and Windows and Nokia likely are thinking about creating the subsequent wave of popular apps, not simply offer existing ones.
A whole lot is riding for the U.S. Lumia launch, but the well-rounded and future focused Windows and Nokia partnership might make method for a another major rival to muscle-in alongside Apple and Android.
About Jhon Jabir
