Microsoft is not far behind in the apps development space and that is the common misconception in India, a top official said.
“We are not behind. Off course there are certain apps like Candy Crush which is not available on Windows Phone Store. But if you look at apps created by Indian companies or top brands, we have a zero app gap versus competition,” Joseph Landes, General Manager (Developer and Platform Evangelism), Microsoft India, said. Mr. Landes said other misconception was about the number of apps.
Microsoft currently has 300,000 apps in the Windows phone store.
“There is no question about it there are more apps in Google PlayStore and iOS. The question to be asked is how many apps do you really need? How many calculators you need?” he added.
He said that the key differentiator for Microsoft was the fact that its apps were malware-free.
He also said Microsoft had invested significantly in India on developing the start-up ecosystem, including the recent tie-up with Reliance Industries GenNext Ventures.
“We would like to see tons of great innovation come out of these initiatives in terms of building a great apps in the times to come,” he added.