Microsoft today unveiled the pricing structure for its new Windows Mobile Marketplace.
Just like Apple, Microsoft have decided that it will be in their best interest to introduce an application store for their Mobile OS platform.
Also, just like Apple, developers can choose to distribute their applications at no cost but have the option to set a price.
Some are saying that Microsoft could be taking a leaf out of Apple’s book with the price to get into development being $99USD.
There are some negative and positive things about the deal with one of the positives being that the registration fee is going to be waived for student developers.
Some other interesting facts include developers receiving 70 percent of the revenue from each sale of their application, also just like Apple.
An interesting twist though, (perhaps a negative) after a developer has reached submitting 5 applications a fee of $99USD for each additional application will need to be paid.
Microsoft defended its $99USD fee for submitting extra applications by saying in a statement:
“Microsoft will run a rigorous certification process to ensure that the end user’s experience is optimal, and that the device and network resources aren’t used in a malicious way,”
“This process has a significant cost and Microsoft believes $99 is an acceptable cost of doing business for (software developers) looking to get in front of millions of customers.”
Perhaps the $99USD fee for submitting extra applications will make the process of getting into the Windows Mobile Marketplace faster than what Apple could handle with some iPhone applications taking up to 6 months to get into the store last year.
