Windows Phone has been struggling to catch up to Android and iOS ever since its release, and most would blame the platform’s lack of apps and Microsoft’s leisurely approach to adopting the latest technologies. And it’s not just consumers that are becoming frustrated with the situation.

Even Nokia, Microsoft’s biggest Windows Phone partner, wants the software giant to get a move on and make the mobile platform more of a priority.

Nokia vice president Bryan Biniak has admitted that the company’s Lumia smartphones are struggling to compete due to the lack of apps and features. Windows Phone has no official Instagram client, there is no support from Google or Dropbox, and it continues to receive the cold shoulder from lots of major app developers.

“We are releasing new devices frequently and for every new device, if there is an app that somebody cares about that’s not there that’s a missed opportunity of a sale,” Biniak told the International Business Times.

“People rely on applications for their day-to-day life and if you don’t have something which I use in my day-to-day life I’m not going to switch because I don’t want to compromise the way I live my life just to switch to a phone. It’s not just about the hardware, it’s about the tools that are on the hardware. You can’t sell a phone without the apps, you just can’t.”

Biniak insists, however, that Nokia is trying to persuade Microsoft to make Windows Phone more of a priority, and help the company understand that its business practices need an upgrade.

“We are trying to evolve the cultural thinking [at Microsoft] to say ‘time is of the essence,'” Biniak said. “Waiting until the end of your fiscal year when you need to close your targets, doesn’t do us any good when I have phones to sell today.”

The meager app selection is not the only problem for Windows Phone. Microsoft has been very slow to adopt new technology and features since the platform launched in 2010. It took a year to get front-facing camera support, and it wasn’t until last October that Windows Phone finally got support for dual-core processors.

It still doesn’t support high-resolution 1080p displays, the latest quad-core processors or microSD cards — things that are becoming increasingly popular among smartphone users. Microsoft’s lack of interest in them certainly won’t help Windows Phone get any bigger.

Nokia sold 7.4 million Lumia smartphones last quarter, helping Windows Phone overtake BlackBerry to become the third-largest mobile operating system in the world. But the gap between Windows Phone and its other rivals remains massive.

According to the latest figures from comScore, Android grabbed a 53.4% share of the U.S. smartphone market in the spring quarter of 2013, while iOS grabbed 39.2%. Windows Phone grabbed a measly 3%.

• SourceInternational Business Times
• ViaPocket-lint