Microsoft said that “Windows Phone customers now download, buy and use more apps than at any time since we first launched Windows Phone 7 two years ago”, with consumers on average having downloaded 54 titles each.

According to Todd Brix, director of Microsoft’s Windows Phone apps team, the company has certified and published more than 75,000 new apps and games during the last twelve months, more than doubling its catalogue size.

He also said that Microsoft has also 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.

It has also expanded its payment options to include PayPal and Alipay, and doubled the number of operator billing connections.

Late last year, Microsoft said it had seen a 40 percent increase in Windows Phone app submissions since the launch of Windows Phone 8 late in October 2012. The company has also been widening the geographic rollout of the store.