Windows Store in Win8 is a disaster

Microsoft announced that it will launch the Windows App Store, which will be built into the upcoming Windows 8 operating system for smartphones, tablets and desktops. However, the author believes that Microsoft's practice of extracting commissions from developers is meaningless and may make the Windows Store a disaster from the start.

Microsoft not only wants to extract 30% of the share, it also sets the lowest price for paid apps to 99 pence ($1.49), both of which have big problems. The Apple App Store draws a 30% share, as does the Android Market app store, which they can do because they have enough market share and mobile users. But Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 and the upcoming Windows 8 are not. In the mobile market, Microsoft's Windows Mobile is insignificant, with a market share of less than 1%. Its share of the tablet market is still zero. It is foreseeable that this situation will not change much for a long time, even after Windows 8 was introduced. Even if its market share has begun to grow, why is it so eager to get rid of developers?

From a developer's perspective, they need a lot of user base. They want to sell their apps to the largest market and earn the most profit. Android and Apple are in this market. If you want any developer to consider choosing a third platform besides Android and Apple, you must give enough incentives. BlackBerry paid a lot of money to understand this —— its app store became a laughing stock, had to launch the Android emulator, let its users access the competitor's app store.

As a market disruptor, BlackBerry and Microsoft must face the needs of developers. This is just like the Nintendo Wii console that entered the video game console market where Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation have been firmly occupied. Nintendo stopped competing in hardware and turned to a new gesture control feature that captured the hearts of many gamers. Sony and Microsoft had to chase Nintendo in turn.

In the history of the development of the technology industry, such cases are not uncommon. A large company invaded other people's sites and thought they could be the leader. However, I am sorry, the market will not recognize you immediately. You have to do better, and it may take several years to lose a certain amount of market share and brand loyalty. Making money at a loss is the only way out.

Microsoft claims that for applications that sell more than 20,000, its commission percentage will be reduced to 20%. Still, this is not enough. If Microsoft takes its app store seriously, it can only extract 15-20% at most. According to the author's thoughts, only 0-5% of the first year should be taken, and then increased by several percentage points year by year until Microsoft wins a higher market share.

In addition, Microsoft should not set any minimum price for the application, because this sends a wrong signal: Microsoft is not focusing on developers, but on its own. Recently, Android is celebrating that its app store has exceeded 10 billion downloads and is preparing to launch a 10p select app promotion. And Apple has also done a number of promotions for 69 pence or less. The reason for Microsoft's minimum price may be to ensure that 30% of the commission is commensurate with the time it takes. — 30% of 99 pence is certainly more cost-effective than 30% of 69 pence. This is a strange logic.

Microsoft should not set any restrictions on its developers. It should be humble to cater to developers, not their own needs. The author dares to assert that if Microsoft does not do this, Win8 will be marginalized from the first day of its launch; and the Windows Store built into this operating system will become a disaster from the beginning. Consumers need a complete ecosystem of operating systems and applications, not just operating systems or hardware.