Microsoft says in India there is “zero app gap”

The app gap has been the most recent explanation for why Windows Phone  is failing to expand its market share.

In India however Microsoft has said it is a non-issue.

“We are not behind,” said Joseph Landes, General Manager (Developer and Platform Evangelism), Microsoft India.  “Off course there are certain apps like Candy Crush which is not available on Windows Phone Store. But if you look at apps created by Indian companies or top brands, we have a zero app gap versus competition,” he continued.

“There is no question about it there are more apps in Google PlayStore and iOS. The question to be asked is how many apps do you really need? How many calculators you need?” he added.

He noted apps in the Windows Phone Store were generally safer, quite unlike the 3rd party app stores commonly used in developing countries.

He also said Microsoft had invested significantly in India on developing the start-up ecosystem, including the recent tie-up with Reliance Industries GenNext Ventures.

“We would like to see tons of great innovation come out of these initiatives in terms of building a great apps in the times to come,” he added.

Landes is of course right that not having a Lyft app is not really that important in India, and the newly developing app market in emerging markets will allow Microsoft to secure apps as soon as iOS, which also has a comparatively low market share.

More important however would be if the mass of US-based bloggers will one day appreciate that for the general user beyond Facebook and WhatsApp apps are not in fact the be-all and end-all of their smartphone selection criteria.

Via thehindu.com