” The Windows Phone 7 launch might not have been the most successful one out there, but WP7 nevertheless is a steadily growing market. Especially when it comes to apps – the Windows Marketplace hit 9,000 available apps recently, growing with a healthy rate of nearly 2,000 apps a month. WP7 has been out for only a couple of months, but at its current pace the Marketplace will pass HP’s App Catalog, which registers some 10,000 application as soon as in March.
While it’s still miniscule from the viewpoint of the Android Market (counting over 200,000 apps) and the App Store (at more than 350,000 apps), soon the Windows Marketplace might also outscore RIM’s App World, which has nearly 20,000 applications. Microsoft does not yet have the strongest ecosystem, but the number of developers for its platform is increasing. In addition, its collaboration with Nokia might give Redmond the needed boost to reach to an even wider audience and build an ecosystem around that user base eventually. One thing is certain – it all comes down to the quality of the apps and that’s best judged by the user.” via phonearena.com