One of the things that sell Windows Phones now is the price. You see a mid-tier phone in the store next to its Android counterparts and it usually appears more smooth and well built with a pretty (ClearBlack) display. And even though it give the impression of a higher quality phone, it's usually cheaper.
If Microsoft was thinking about the long run, they would introduce new flagship phones at lower prices than the competition. The margins on flagship phones is huge (as far as I know), because people think they have to be much more expensive because of the higher specs. But image a flagship phone with the same specs as the coming generation (SD810, >2 GB ram and at least 1080p screens) only cheaper than the Android phone sitting next to it in the store showcase.
This would make all Windows 10 phones (and the current upgradeable Windows 8.1 phones) consistently cheaper than the competition at all tiers, and that would mean a lot to the consumers. Just look at what happened when they lowered the price of XBOX One...
They can probably cut at least $100 of a $600 flagship and still make some money while increasing market share.
It would of course mean less profit, but it would increase market shares over the long run, and that is priceless to the ecosystem.
If Microsoft was thinking about the long run, they would introduce new flagship phones at lower prices than the competition. The margins on flagship phones is huge (as far as I know), because people think they have to be much more expensive because of the higher specs. But image a flagship phone with the same specs as the coming generation (SD810, >2 GB ram and at least 1080p screens) only cheaper than the Android phone sitting next to it in the store showcase.
This would make all Windows 10 phones (and the current upgradeable Windows 8.1 phones) consistently cheaper than the competition at all tiers, and that would mean a lot to the consumers. Just look at what happened when they lowered the price of XBOX One...
They can probably cut at least $100 of a $600 flagship and still make some money while increasing market share.
It would of course mean less profit, but it would increase market shares over the long run, and that is priceless to the ecosystem.