Saturday, December 08, 2012

App Developers Shun Microsoft's Surface

Microsoft has reportedly spent more than $1.5 billion to market its new operating system, Windows 8, and accompanying mobile device, the Surface. However, the major app developers don't seem to be sharing the hype.

Despite the fact that Microsoft is offering more attractive revenue splits for app developers than competitors Google and Apple, many of the largest digital media properties in the U.S. and makers of the most-popular tablet apps have decided that developing apps for the Surface -- and the Windows app store in general -- is not yet worth their time.

Currently, Apple and Google take 30% of all money earned from apps sold in their stores or in-app purchases made on their platforms. Microsoft offers the same 70-30 split until a company earns $25,000 in revenue from the Windows app store. After that, developers get to keep 80% of app revenue.

One explanation for the absence of certain popular apps is that Microsoft did not release its finalized software development kit until September. This may have slowed things down for the Surface...

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