Kevin Shield, Nokia's senior vice-president, has admitted that "each app we don't have is a problem".

The candid comments come after Pocket-lint asked whether not having the same apps as enjoyed by iPhone and Android users was hurting Nokia in selling devices.

"Each app we don't have is a problem, however the apps we have that you can't find elsewhere apart from on Lumia helps. It is not binary, it's progressive. Momentum is building."

Shields points to new apps on the Windows Phone platform like YouTube, Temple Run and new updates to the Foursquare and Facebook apps as all helping the company's cause against other two leading smartphone operating systems.

"We want Instagram on Lumia," he said.

The news comes after more high-profile apps were launched on the OS, including Hipstamatic whicfeatures the ability to send pictures from Lumia devices to Instragram. That app will be available in June.

Shields' comments are echoed by Vesa Jutila, global head of smartphone marketing at Nokia. In a separate interview with Pocket-lint, Jutila also said the lack of the latest apps enjoyed by iPhone and Android users was an issue, but that the company was doing all it could to address the problem.

"It is driven by volumes, we are happy others make Windows Phone 8 phones because it brings more people to Windows Phone," she said.

It seems Nokia is hoping that once bigger volumes are achieved with devices like the Lumia 925, more developers will turn to the Windows Phone platform. Nokia has confirmed that there are now 145,000 apps for the Windows Phone platform.