When we first embarked on our mobile application development journey, choosing the target platform was a no-brainer:  iOS was leading by a wide margin, Android was fragmented and mostly free/ad supported (not in line with our business model) and Windows Phone had just been launched and had an unknown future.  Our first iPhone app was released in the App Store in March 2011 and has been very successful.

Having set out our App Store expansion strategy (both in terms of markets and in terms of other apps), we began evaluating other platforms.  Following the “impartial” advice of a close friend at Microsoft, we decided to give WP7 a try.  We had all the content from our iPhone apps – all we needed was the “engine” to run our games on WP7.  Someone from my friend’s team in Microsoft was willing to give us a hand and co-develop the WP7 engine with us, so we were good to go in just a couple of weeks!

We now have 13 applications on the Windows Phone Marketplace and 12 on the App Store, across six different languages, all fully localized. The applications are educational, for children aged 3 to 6 and help them learn the letters, words and spelling.

The claim in the title of the blog post refers to the English versions, “First Words with Phonics: Learning Animals” in the App Store and “First Words: Learning Animals” in the Marketplace since their launch in the US alone (they were both launched in July).  We have the same UI and resources on both applications  both have Lite versions (for WP7 we also have a trial version) and, to make it more specific, we are talking about an iPhone-only app for the App Store.  Moreover:

1.  Both apps have been featured. By Microsoft on the App Hub and on the “New + Pinworthy \Parents” and by Apple on the “What’s Hot” in both our categories.  Disclaimer:  We only got featured in the US WP Marketplace about a month ago, almost 4 months after releasing the app and after having been in the top of our category for 3 consecutive months.  I just felt I should point this out in case people thought we would get “special treatment” for having friends @ Microsoft. That’s not how it works…
2.  Both applications have plenty of 4 and 5 star reviews

There are also some major differences:

1. The App store version is more enhanced than the Marketplace version, including phonics.
2. We executed an extensive marketing plan for the iPhone app that unfortunately went south, as it was not coordinated properly. Setting up the campaign and executing it took a lot of time and used up significant resources (including money).
3.  On the other hand we had little to none marketing activities set up and executed for the WP7 app.

In terms of ranking, our WP7 app has been number 1 in the US in the Kids + Family category for the past three months in the Marketplace. As for the iPhone app, it has been ranked in the top 400 in Games\Educational for more than 2/3 of the entire time frame, reaching the top 100.

The end result? As said, FIVE time more sales of our WP7 app vs. our iPhone app.

So how can a well written iPhone app, with great reviews, featured by Apple and supported with marketing efforts, perform so much worse than the exact same, equally top rated, app on WP7?  How is this possible, given Apple’s market share in smartphones (and compared to Microsoft’s)?

The answer is quite simple: Apple has 500.000+ apps on the App Store compared to only 30.000+ on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The potential, in terms of devices in the market, of the App Store is huge compared to that of the Marketplace but, at the same time, there is fierce competition and a LOT of noise in the App Store, making it extremely difficult to stand out.

So, provided you have a killer app and unless you have a solid, well coordinated marketing plan in place for the App Store that you will execute with diligence along with a twist of luck, you stand a pretty good chance of having your app buried in the ruble. On the other hand your killer app will stand out on the Marketplace and will reward you accordingly. And with all the Nokia devices hitting the market soon, it can only get better.  Of course, the later you decide to join, the better it is for the rest of us that are already in…

Now about our iPhone track record. Our first application for iPhone, “First Greek Words: Learning Animals” and its Lite version were introduced to the App Store on March 1st, 2011. Actually that was the first application we submitted as Anlock. From that point on it took some time to get things rolling. The English, French, German, Italian and Spanish versions were introduced from July through to September.

Featured
We have been featured by Apple on the “New + Noteworthy” and “What’s Hot” lists of our respective categories in the following countries: US, UK, Australia, Canada, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Chile.

Rankings
We have reached the following top charts and have also been listed in 36 more countries around the world:

US: Top 100
UK: Top 50
Australia: Top 50
Germany: Top 25
Austria: Top 25
Switzerland: Top 25
France: Top 25
Italy: Top 10
Spain: Nr. 1
Mexico: Top 10
Greece: Nr. 1
Canada: Top 50
Argentina: Top 10
Colombia: Top 10
Chile: Top 10

User Ratings
Our paid versions have received 90+ reviews across all countries with an average of 4.5+

We will be posting a comparative analysis of our iPhone and Windows Phone 7 sales shortly to give you an idea on how they are performing.

Our first application for Windows Phone 7, “First Words: Learning Animals” and its Lite version hit the Marketplace on July 7th, 2011. Since then we have released French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish versions. We have also released “First Words: Learning Vehicles” and we are currently rolling out corresponding adaptations. More words are on the way!

Featured
We have been featured twice on the US and UK Marketplaces on October 26th and November 11th and on the French Marketplace on September 8th. “First Words: Learning Animals” has been picked as “New + Pinworthy” for Parents.

Rankings
We have conquered the following positions in the “Kids + Family” top paid category around the world:

US: Nr. 1 (since August and counting)
UK: Nr. 2
Australia: Nr. 1
Germany: Nr. 1
Austria: Nr. 1
Switzerland: Nr. 1
France: Nr. 1
Italy: Nr. 1
Spain: Nr. 1
Mexico: Nr. 1
Greece: Nr. 1

User Ratings
Our paid versions have received 70+ reviews across all countries with an average of 4.5+

We will be posting the report for our iPhone apps shortly.

This is it, our blog is up and running !!!

We will be posting our development endeavors as we progress  for you to gain an inside look of Anlock.