Microsoft Becoming A Prolific App Developer

Image Source: itpro.co.uk

If you can’t hang with them, use their platforms to make money. At least that’s what Microsoft (MSFT) is doing. It’s no secret that Microsoft missed the boat on mobile. And even though it’s selling more Windows Phones than ever, it still isn’t enough to maintain its market share, let alone increase it. Reports show that the market share decreased in 2014 from 3.3% to 3.1%.

So what is their response? Instead of pumping more money into a dying segment, it seems that Microsoft is working harder than ever to provide its services on every device. The movement was punctuated last November when Microsoft released Microsoft Office on the iPhone. Now it looks as if Microsoft will become one of the leading iOS and Android developers—highlighted by Outlook and Skype.

Outlook app best in class

The newly released Outlook app has received glowing reviews. Some analysts have said that it’s the best email app you can download right now. Working seamlessly with Gmail, Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com, and Office 365, anyone can make the transition pretty easily. The professional-grade app offers personal users for free. It also includes a calendar in-app unlike iOS and Android, which operate the two under separate apps.

Skype getting upgrades

In addition to providing smartphone users with a smarter email, Microsoft also upgraded its Skype app, integrating it directly into Windows 10. Some of the features include a messaging service that resembles Apple’s iMessage service. Microsoft has also added a feature that is designed to automatically translate conversations between speakers of two languages in real-time.

The translation feature isn’t perfect. In fact, I’ve witnessed a real-time English to German conversation and, while the German to English translation was impressive, the reverse…not so much. However, it’s certainly a harbinger of things to come as Microsoft will likely improve its accuracy. In fact, not long after Skype released its new translation feature, Google announced it would add its own real-time translation feature to compete.

Doing what it does best

Microsoft knows it’s already lost the war with mobile phones, but it’s positioning itself quite nicely in mobile applications. Overall, the company has over 100 apps between the Google Play Store and the App Store. 50 of those apps were released last year, and 12 have already been released in 2015 so far. Between its Windows Phone, iOS and Android, Microsoft has access to 96% of the smartphones sold last year.

This just goes to show that Microsoft is getting back into doing what it does best—software. Obviously blasting Android and iOS with hundreds of apps isn’t going to tell whether this will be an overriding success or failure. Rather its important Microsoft invests in quality and focus with each app.

That being said, this is definitely a sign of progress as Microsoft is trying to get its foot back in the door of the mobile party. The Windows Phone already missed the ship, but there’s still room to make money in this realm.