Microsoft Corp's Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps available which makes the Windows Phone the second fastest growing app store after Apple's. That is good news for Microsoft which took a year to reach 40,000 apps on Windows Phone but only 40 days to reach the 50,000 milestone. On any given standard, the fast growing app store, the good reviews for its Windows Phone; one would expect Microsoft to have a better slice of the smartphone market but it only managed to grab just 1.5 percent market share in the third quarter of 2011 according to Gartner.

So what's keeping Microsoft and Windows Phone from exploding like Apple's iOS or Google's Android? Former Windows Phone general manager Charlie Kindel thinks it has to do with Microsoft's relationship with carriers. In a blog post, Kindel attributes the failure of Windows Phone to its inability to play nice with phone makers and carriers. Microsoft has imposed tight restrictions on hardware and upgrade policies thus limiting the carriers and manufacturers' freedom.

"Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year," Kindel wrote in a blog post yesterday. "The money is provided by the other sides of the market: OS providers & device manufactures, but the carriers get to spend it; they are the aggregation point where the money actually gets spent. The carriers choose what devices get featured on those TV ads. They also choose what devices to train their RSP (retail sales professionals) to push."

Carriers and manufacturers will continue to sell Windows Phone but they won't push it like they do with Android smartphones or Apple iPhones. Apple has also locked out carriers and manufacturers but it's only done so because it's taken over both roles in pushing the iPhone. Microsoft still has to rely on other manufacturers and carriers for its Windows Phone.

There's no denying that carriers play a big part in the success of smartphones placing all the blame at their feet for the failure of Windows Phone is oversimplifying it. Some pundits like Venture Capitalist MG Siegler think it's because the Windows Phone was launched too late to make a dent in the lead of Apple and Google. The iPhone and Android phones were launched in 2007 and 2008 respectively; the Windows Phone was already catching up when it was launched in late 2010.

The biggest problem with Windows Phone isn't the timing or the carriers it's the simple fact that it really doesn't stand out from the crowd. Critics have said that it was a good phone but never mention any specific feature that would make iPhone or Android users flock over to the Windows banner. If Microsoft wants to get in the smartphone market before Apple and Google lock it out forever, it needs to make a device that is so great and different from its competitors that would make consumers line up in the early morning just to get it.