There are signs that Microsoft is set to follow in Apple and Google’s footsteps and launch its own online mobile device application store. A job posting for the position of Senior Product Manager – Skymarket reveals a number of details.
This is a unique opportunity and time of rapid change in the mobile industry for a Senior Product Manager in the Mobile Communications Services team to drive the launch of a v1 marketplace service for Windows Mobile.
Skymarket will launch with Windows Mobile 7. Current expectations set the launch of the next iteration of Windows Mobile sometime in 2009, giving us a sense of when Skymarket would also go live (although one bullet in the job description suggests it could be as early as this fall). In the meantime, the Skymarket Senior Product Manager will have the following responsibilities:
- Definition of the product offering, pricing, business model and policies that will make the Windows Mobile marketplace ‘the place to be’ for developers wishing to distribute and monetize their Windows Mobile applications
- Responsibility for the business model and key elements that will drive the optimal experience for developers and monetization of the service by Microsoft
- Preparation and driving the cross group collaboration for the initial launch of the marketplace offering to the developer community
- Preparation and driving the cross group collaboration with stakeholders in the commercial launch of the marketplace service with the launch of WM 7
- Support business development on engagements with mobile operators and integration of the marketplace offering into broader Microsoft services offerings or discussions
- And more.