It is unclear to me how MS is planning to bring people back into the phone ecosystem with anything but a niche product. While I do not know their strategy, it does seem like their view is 'Windows Anywhere' and leverage universal apps across the platforms. That makes perfect sense for business and productivity tools, but I am not so sure it will work for the mass market. Besides, when you see iPhone users constantly playing games, doing social updates, chatting in Facetime... that is the antithesis of productivity.
Even if you believe that developers will write core apps to be universal (and there are significant benefits to operate across PC's, tablets, and phones), there are tens of thousands of single purpose apps that will never need to work on anything but a phone and maybe tablet. Things like automobile status apps, garage doors, home automation, payment apps.. There is no real need to make them work on a full blown PC, and by the very nature the portability of these class of apps may not even be suitable for a tablet. So where does that leave MS?
They can be profitable selling tools to a premium segment, but it does feel like they may have lost the mass market segment of phone consumers.
Add carrier exclusivity in US markets and MS has a tough road ahead in the mobile CONSUMER space.
Even if you believe that developers will write core apps to be universal (and there are significant benefits to operate across PC's, tablets, and phones), there are tens of thousands of single purpose apps that will never need to work on anything but a phone and maybe tablet. Things like automobile status apps, garage doors, home automation, payment apps.. There is no real need to make them work on a full blown PC, and by the very nature the portability of these class of apps may not even be suitable for a tablet. So where does that leave MS?
They can be profitable selling tools to a premium segment, but it does feel like they may have lost the mass market segment of phone consumers.
Add carrier exclusivity in US markets and MS has a tough road ahead in the mobile CONSUMER space.