Sources: Microsoft Is Paying Developers Up To $100,000 To Write Windows Phone 8 Apps
Microsoft openly pays developers up front for writing Windows Phone 8 apps. — The company right now has an offer to pay $100 for any app that gets published in the Windows store by the end of the month.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft has used developer payments as a Windows Phone distribution tactic since 2010, including cash incentives for iPhone app portages and a 2012 program reported to subsidize individual apps by far larger sums. Nokia was also reported to be paying developers for Windows Phone work, making developer acquisition a shared ecosystem priority rather than a one-off Microsoft promotion.
The reported per-app offer lowers the commitment required from developers compared with those earlier bespoke subsidies. It matters because Microsoft is pairing wider Windows retail and advertising efforts with an attempt to add software inventory to Windows Phone 8.
First-order effects
- Developers that can meet the Windows Store deadline gain a reported upfront payment for publishing a Windows Phone 8 app, reducing their initial platform-entry cost.
- Microsoft would trade cash for a larger near-term Windows Phone catalog, continuing its earlier app-subsidy strategy.
Second-order effects
- Developers with existing iPhone software have an added reason to prioritize Windows Phone ports, extending the logic of Microsoft's earlier portage payments.
- The incentive favors simple, quickly publishable apps over projects whose value depends on sustained updates, leaving Microsoft to distinguish store breadth from durable developer support.
Third-order effects
- Repeated payments by Microsoft and Nokia point to an ecosystem strategy in which platform owners underwrite catalog formation when organic developer economics are insufficient.
- If such offers become routine, developers may treat Windows Phone support as paid acquisition work rather than a market-led commitment, raising the cost of maintaining platform parity.
The trend: Mobile platforms are using direct developer incentives to close app-catalog gaps, making software supply a funded competitive input rather than solely a response to user demand.