Is downplaying Lumias Microsoft's newest strategy?

[anon(7929613)]

In my last post I cited Google's monopoly and the lack of level playing field as the reason for Microsoft's lack of interest in Windows smartphones.
But there may another twist to this. May be it's Microsoft's strategy to attract other OEM's. Lumia was such a powerful brand that no OEM had the courage to take them head on. What do you think?

 

[Pete]

It's not new. Microsoft said months ago that it was no longer actively chasing market share and the same levels of handset sales that Nokia did. It's taking time to broaden its reach on Windows and Cloud/Azure platforms. Users of Windows Phones will naturally reap the benefits of those improvements.

 

[tgp]

Microsoft said months ago that it was no longer actively chasing market

While this may technically be true, I do not believe that Microsoft does not want market share, as is implied somewhat by their statement. If they are no longer chasing it, it is because it has been a lost cause so far. They want market share as much as anyone else, but nothing they have tried so far has worked.

It's taking time to broaden its reach on Windows and Cloud/Azure platforms. Users of Windows Phones will naturally reap the benefits of those improvements.

True, but yet users of iOS and Android will benefit just as much as WP users. It does not give WP an advantage.

 

[HeyCori]

I think Microsoft's only strategy for Windows Phone is to not have a strategy. I know the situation looks bleak, but the situation has always looked bleak. Even when Windows Phone managed to squeak out 10 million in a quarter, Android was in the 100 millions a quarter. There's no hero device on the way, no cleaver marketing scheme that's going to turn the tide.

To be clear, I'm not advertising that Microsoft should leave the phone market. And I'm not saying they shouldn't try at all. But at some point, Microsoft had to admit that Nokia's strategy wasn't wasn't working and wasn't sustainable. That band-aid needed to be ripped off.

And just to sidetrack - I'm of the opinion that Nokia's decision to create dozens of mid-low range devices did more harm than good as it left Microsoft with a bloated and confusing device lineup. But I digress...

I think Microsoft is really just buying time until the Universal App Platform gains major traction (and it's been doing pretty well thus far). That's why we're getting only a handful of hardware releases and little marketing.