App analytics and monetisation firm Flurry said that Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is picking up support from developers, growing faster than the market overall and gaining share from iOS and Android.

According to the company, the number of Windows Phone project starts has grown by more than 600 percent over the last 12 months, to now account for 6 percent of the total compared with just 1 percent as recently as September 2011.

In contrast, the other main tier-two player, RIM’s BlackBerry, has remained flat as a percentage of new product starts at 1 percent – although with the absolute number of new projects increasing by 50 percent, there has still been some growth in volume terms.


The two platforms are still dwarfed by iOS and Android. In the second quarter of 2012, the Apple platform accounted for 67 percent of project starts, with the Google platform following on 28 percent. iOS’ share decreased by 4 percentage points year-on-year, with Microsoft gaining three points and one point going to Android.

The company noted that despite the relative shifts, all four are actually growing, “just at different rates.” Year-on-year growth for the platforms are 521 percent for Windows Phone, 82 percent for Android, 66 percent for iOS and 13 percent for BlackBerry – especially highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the Microsoft and RIM platforms.

Comparing Windows Phone and Android, for every project started for the Microsoft platform, four are started for Android. Considering the comparative size of the user bases, this means that Microsoft is over-indexing, and “from Google’s point-of-view, this must elevate Microsoft from an “also-ran” to a potential competitive threat with the resources and know-how to kick-start momentum and mount a campaign to reel in the second place player.”

Flurry suggested that Windows Phone “could be gaining against the entire market as a result of developer frustration for Android fragmentation, concern for increasing competition on iOS and a lack of faith in BlackBerry.”

The numbers are based on Flurry’s records for when a developer sets up an app for its analytics tracking prior to launch – therefore giving a view of where developers are now focussing their development efforts.