By Siriporn Pajharawat, Director of Developer Experience & Platform Evangelism (DX) Group, Microsoft Thailand
On July 29th, the world witnessed the dawn of a new Windows era.
Since then, more than 75 million devices in 192 countries – that’s virtually every country on the planet – have upgraded to and are running Windows 10.
More than 90,000 unique PC or tablet models have upgraded to Windows 10.
The Windows Store for Windows 10 has seen 6 times more app downloads per device than Windows 8.
So when Microsoft announced its goal to have Windows 10 on 1 billion devices in the next 2-3 years, the possibilities for apps created by Thai developers are infinite.
In a recent Microsoft poll conducted among app developers in 8 Asia Pacific countries including Thailand, 78% of respondents said they are likely to develop apps for Windows 10. With apps that can run across the PC, mobile phone, tablet, and wearables; or designing an iOS/Android app that can run on 1 billion Windows 10 devices, Thai developers have greater opportunities, now more than ever, to go global.
To enable the aspirations of going global, we break out of the conventional path of apps written for just mobile devices and a single operating system. Plus we want to make app development easier.
It doesn’t really matter now whether a developer prefers to build for web, mobile or desktop; or even Windows, Android or iOS. It need not be an either/or situation for developers anymore.
Think of how bridges physically connect places and people. Similarly with the Windows Bridge toolkits, developers can now bring their existing code base (Android or iOS) to the Universal Windows Platform. On this Platform, developers can tailor and add capabilities to their existing apps such as the popular live tiles, active notifications and Windows Store in-app purchase.
The final step, of course is to publish the app. Through the Windows Store, an app will be available across all Windows device families – from PCs, tablets, phones, wearables, consoles and even holographic – to a potential 1 billion devices in the very near future. For the developer, this means overall less development time and be connected to even more revenue opportunities.
Beyond that, Thai developers are now increasingly recognized as the primary driving force of the Thai digital economy. From starting a small-medium enterprise (SME) in software development to creating an app that transforms the businesses of SMEs across sectors and industries, local developers have the potential to accelerate Thailand’s digital economy vision through their knowledge, creativity, innovation and cultural uniqueness. And if done correctly, the digital economy could contribute up to 30% of Thailand’s Gross National Product (GNP) by 2020[1].
Thailand’s software development and applications market will continue to grow, driven by higher penetration of smartphones and devices, mobile broadband, and infrastructure/network improvements[2]. And in parallel, we see the world of technology embracing greater openness where developers now have better capabilities to write an app and distribute to the masses across operating systems and platforms.
One billion devices isn’t just a goal, it represents the opportunities for Thai developers to grab and unleash their creativity to transform Thailand in the digital era.
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