TheVerge said:Windows 10 phones are not intended to grab market share or establish a profitable revenue source. The Lumias that are coming this week serve as a form of fan service and as a preview for what Microsoft will be able to do in the future.
Either way, chasing market share is not W10M's goal.
These [950/XL] are built for existing WM enthusiasts. Us basically. For nobody else.
I actually question whether MS is earning any money on these at all, even at $700. There is no set price at which a phone is guaranteed to make a profit, as it must first recoup the hundreds of millions MS invests in software and hardware engineering. That means the only way to make a profit is by selling high-end devices, with high margins, in large numbers... something high-end Lumias don't typically do.
TheVerge said:Microsoft has also given up competing directly
WP is along for the ride, and may eventually play a role as an enabler for some alternative strategy to enter the mobile market, but the view that W10M as a smartphone OS, is being pitting directly against Android or iOS in a bid for consumer favor and market share.. that chapter is over.
TheVerge said:Windows 10 Mobile and the devices powered by it will be just a piece of Microsoft’s broader mobile strategy — rather than the crux of it, as they were with Windows Phone 7.
WM is no longer of major relevance in and as of itself. It isn't required to be a successful product in its own right. It needs only to serve its purpose as a component of MS' overarching UWP vision.
What it really means is NOW Windows Phone is truly dead in less than 2 hours. It's all about Windows 10 devices. It is all an extension of Windows desktop in all the form factors. If you want your desktop extending to whatever you do, you wear, you hold - you have a form factor. But if you want a truly mobile OS with mobile apps, it is all about iOS and Android. WP is no more.
I agree it is about Windows 10 now. I'm not sure about the 'truly mobile OS' bit. Windows 10 is a perfectly good mobile OS too.
But yes, nothing is about Windows Phone anymore. Apps and services will be focused on Windows 10 alone and the desktop will receive the benefit of that, as will the mobile.
If you don't trust them, you'd be wise to at least trust mewhile it raises questions, I'll take anything written by "The 'we love Apple and despise Microsoft' Verge" with a large grain of salt.
Perfect mobile OS is the one that has all the mobile apps you will ever need or want. Right now that is iOS. The sheer amount of apps, the sheer quality is mind blowing. That is what keeps even an "outdated" looking row of icons increasing in sales every launch.
Windows 10 WILL NOT bring apps for phones. Not in any near future. If at all Windows 10 is to bring new apps and services to mobile devices, that is going to take another 5 years to be real. App situation won't fix. Windows 10 is however, powerful enough to allow porting and we may see quick benefits of being able to use apps on other stores, on everything that runs Windows 10. But hasn't blackberry done that already and eventually gone to Android OS?
Only one thing left to do...
This article is saying the exact same things I've been saying this entire last week starting from the first page in this thread:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-10-mobile/385745-should-new-lumia-devices-sold-loss.html
. . . .
I wish WCentral could have come out with this first, but at least I'm not the only one saying this anymore...
Only one thing left to do...