There are a lot of complaints about Microsoft's "anti-strategies" (for lack of a better term) online. Microsoft is developing for other platforms before they develop for Windows Phone. There are no flagship devices. There aren't enough apps.
I see Windows Phone as an acquired taste that will not appeal to everyone, and I'm not even sure that it should, because if it did the platform would lose what makes it unique. It would lose the idiosyncrasies that have attracted me to the platform.
Does Windows Phone need a flagship device? I'm not really sure that it does. All a flagship device would suggest, is that Windows Phone would have a high-end device whose specifications would rival that of any Android or iOS device. Most of us know that this is already the case with WP; if anything, Android and iOS need to catch up with WP in that department. The iPhone still does not compete with WP and Android on hardware, and that will probably never change because their users are not asking for such a device to be manufactured. People buy iOS devices for the apps and its ease of use, not because they are looking for a 2GB phone/tablet capable of shooting or display 4K video. A few people are excited about 64-bit processing on the iPhone, but not many, and if they are Apple is smart enough not to make a talking point about it and market to everyone else that just wants something fun to play and work with.
The whole "flagship device" thing, IMHO, is an antiquated marketing model. In the near future, smartphones are used for their utility, and specifications are not nearly as important as they were in the last generation. I seriously believe that Microsoft is attempting to create a marketplace where you can purchase a phone without having to worry about whether or not it is powerful enough for regular, everyday use. Android is also attempting the same through changes that have occurred going back to KitKat on low end devices, but it will never be realized until Jellybean devices are pushed out of the marketplace. Pushing Gingerbread out of the marketplace was Android's first obstacle in creating near universal acceptance for Google's ecosystem, now it needs to push low end Jellybean devices out of the market and "finish off" what is started.
I'm not suggesting that MIcrosoft's reputation for delivering hardware that "just works" is sufficient. Clearly, nothing that has come out of Microsoft in the Windows 8 era has made anyone salivate the way that older Windows hardware has. WP, at one time, tried pushing high-end devices to a buying public that was already spoiled on other mobile OS flagship devices, and it did not work. I was intrigued at the Lumia 1020, because of the camera, but I'm a nerd, and what appeals to me won't appeal to most people. The success of the 520 did more to captivate my interest more than anything, and a flagship device would not have accomplished this in my eyes because I do not have "flagship money". People would not shut up about that device. I knew that I wanted a Windows Phone, but I did not want 8 (even though I had my eye on WP since 7/7.5) because of the lack of a file manager, and TBH I had a few concerns, a few reservations.
I didn't purchase a flagship Android device, and I never will. This is what I see as the reality for Windows Phone going forward. Some of us will make it our daily driver, but most of us will still have other phones that we use as our primary device. Children will end up with WP as presents under the tree because they're cheap, and people moving from featurephones will gravitate to WP for its ease of use. Microsoft can nurture a new generation on WP in this way, sort of how Apple did with the free computers in the classroom back in the eighties, and Microsoft can grow marketshare over several years, if not decades.
WP is a strategy that will work over the long haul, but not overnight. It won't happen in 2 years, or even 5 or even 10. The question becomes whether or not Microsoft is willing to stick it out and whether or not it has the money to wait this thing out. Flagship phones worked for Android because smartphones were still relatively new and tech journalists evangelized Android because of their love of these devices but in a mature market, lacking the same enthusiasm for smartphones that existed 5 years ago I can't see it working for WP because for every flagship phone that comes out of WP there will be a multitude of Android devices that could essentially be considered as flagship devices (depending on who you ask). Plus the reality that Apple, depending on who you ask, only makes flagship devices, and it is all lost in the shuffle.
I see Windows Phone as an acquired taste that will not appeal to everyone, and I'm not even sure that it should, because if it did the platform would lose what makes it unique. It would lose the idiosyncrasies that have attracted me to the platform.
Does Windows Phone need a flagship device? I'm not really sure that it does. All a flagship device would suggest, is that Windows Phone would have a high-end device whose specifications would rival that of any Android or iOS device. Most of us know that this is already the case with WP; if anything, Android and iOS need to catch up with WP in that department. The iPhone still does not compete with WP and Android on hardware, and that will probably never change because their users are not asking for such a device to be manufactured. People buy iOS devices for the apps and its ease of use, not because they are looking for a 2GB phone/tablet capable of shooting or display 4K video. A few people are excited about 64-bit processing on the iPhone, but not many, and if they are Apple is smart enough not to make a talking point about it and market to everyone else that just wants something fun to play and work with.
The whole "flagship device" thing, IMHO, is an antiquated marketing model. In the near future, smartphones are used for their utility, and specifications are not nearly as important as they were in the last generation. I seriously believe that Microsoft is attempting to create a marketplace where you can purchase a phone without having to worry about whether or not it is powerful enough for regular, everyday use. Android is also attempting the same through changes that have occurred going back to KitKat on low end devices, but it will never be realized until Jellybean devices are pushed out of the marketplace. Pushing Gingerbread out of the marketplace was Android's first obstacle in creating near universal acceptance for Google's ecosystem, now it needs to push low end Jellybean devices out of the market and "finish off" what is started.
I'm not suggesting that MIcrosoft's reputation for delivering hardware that "just works" is sufficient. Clearly, nothing that has come out of Microsoft in the Windows 8 era has made anyone salivate the way that older Windows hardware has. WP, at one time, tried pushing high-end devices to a buying public that was already spoiled on other mobile OS flagship devices, and it did not work. I was intrigued at the Lumia 1020, because of the camera, but I'm a nerd, and what appeals to me won't appeal to most people. The success of the 520 did more to captivate my interest more than anything, and a flagship device would not have accomplished this in my eyes because I do not have "flagship money". People would not shut up about that device. I knew that I wanted a Windows Phone, but I did not want 8 (even though I had my eye on WP since 7/7.5) because of the lack of a file manager, and TBH I had a few concerns, a few reservations.
I didn't purchase a flagship Android device, and I never will. This is what I see as the reality for Windows Phone going forward. Some of us will make it our daily driver, but most of us will still have other phones that we use as our primary device. Children will end up with WP as presents under the tree because they're cheap, and people moving from featurephones will gravitate to WP for its ease of use. Microsoft can nurture a new generation on WP in this way, sort of how Apple did with the free computers in the classroom back in the eighties, and Microsoft can grow marketshare over several years, if not decades.
WP is a strategy that will work over the long haul, but not overnight. It won't happen in 2 years, or even 5 or even 10. The question becomes whether or not Microsoft is willing to stick it out and whether or not it has the money to wait this thing out. Flagship phones worked for Android because smartphones were still relatively new and tech journalists evangelized Android because of their love of these devices but in a mature market, lacking the same enthusiasm for smartphones that existed 5 years ago I can't see it working for WP because for every flagship phone that comes out of WP there will be a multitude of Android devices that could essentially be considered as flagship devices (depending on who you ask). Plus the reality that Apple, depending on who you ask, only makes flagship devices, and it is all lost in the shuffle.
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