Microsoft and Nokia employ interesting bullying technique to get apps for Windows Phone

In an interview with BusinessWeek outspoken Nokia VP Bryan Biniak revealed an interesting technique Microsoft users to convince companies to make apps for Windows Phone.

“If our employees bank with you, if the company banks with you, if we travel with you, if we stay in your hotels, if we do all these things, you should have an application in our store,” he says. “We have some muscle here. Let’s start flexing our muscle.”

Microsoft has about 100,000 employees worldwide, and 32,000 Nokia employees will join the company when the acquisition is official, which likely explains why we have seen apps like the British Airways app arrive on Windows Phone so soon.

In addition Microsoft spends hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing each year and  Biniak also wants to predicate some of that spending on companies building versions of their apps for Windows smartphones.

Of course besides all these shoulder twisting Microsoft also pays hundreds of thousands for speicifc  apps or even builds them directly, such as the Facebook app for Windows Phone.

Ultimately Biniak wants Windows Phone to have its own exclusives, such as the new DreamWorks Dragons game,  or at the very least offer the best possible version of an app.

“Ultimately we’re trying to get to the point where we have a halo around our devices,” he says. “Yes, Instagram is on iOS; yes, it’s on Android; yes, it’s on Lumia. But it’s better on Lumia.”

wmpoweruser.com 2 Nov 2013