It has been a year since Microsoft unveiled the free developer tools for Windows Phone 7 at the MIX 10 conference and to celebrate the anniversary the Windows Phone Developer Blog has posted some figures to illustrate the operating system's achievements.
While it hasn't been the runaway success that it might have been the numbers suggest that there's a lot to be positive about despite a struggle to increase its market share.
The most impressive stat to start with is the 1.5 million downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools. This doesn't mean there are 1.5 million developers making apps for the platform though, the current number of paying members of the AppHub community is 36,000 with a further 1,200 signing up each week.
In terms of apps there are currently 11,500 on the Windows Phone marketplace, 7,500 which are paid for. The post states that despite the fact Microsoft are currently unable to match Android and Apple in its handset sales developers are reporting that they are making more from their apps on the Microsoft platform than its competitors.
On average Windows Phone 7 users download 12 apps a month, a year ago Android users downloaded an average of around nine apps a month and iPhone users 12, so Windows Phone 7 isn't doing too badly in this respect.
It may have gotten off to a slow start but there's no doubting Windows Phone 7 has a lot of potential and it could be a case of the tortoise and the hare.
Carriers have been slow to deliver handsets running the system, some have had to wait for the NoDo update which enables CDMA compatibility, but with Nokia set to deliver their own WP7 devices in 2012 it may just be a matter of patience.
The deal between Microsoft and Nokia has led to one analyst suggesting that Windows Phone 7 may overtake Apple by 2015.
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