In a Bloomberg Businessweek article on the similarities between iOS 7 and Windows Phone, Ashlee Vance reported, “My friends in Silicon Valley say Microsoft has been offering $100,000 or more to companies that will build Windows Phone apps.”
Those reported payouts are on top of Microsoft’s reward program that pays mobile development firms $100 per app up to $2,000 for porting their apps to its platform by June 30.
Microsoft’s efforts to attract high-quality apps appear to be paying off. The Windows Phone Store now has 145,000 apps, including 48 of the 50 most-downloaded apps on any platform.