Director Brandon Watson, of an apps developer program at Microsoft, said that the Redmond-based software giant would support higher app prices for Windows Phone apps to encourage high-quality products.

At a press briefing in Helsinki, Watson said the company wanted to encourage developers to charge more for creating better apps for Windows Phone apps Marketplace.

Speaking on the topic, Watson said, “I’d rather developers sell fewer than a million downloads and get to a million dollars.”

Microsoft’s move is being seen as an attempt to attract and retain more and more app developers. Microsoft’s Marketplace is facing cut-throat competition from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Marketplace.

Watson also said that they wanted to make sure that no app developer would leave them to join iOS or Android.

Earlier on May 24, Microsoft said that it would add a number of features in the fall release of Windows Phone 7, which has recently been adopted by Finnish handset maker Nokia.