Is windows mobile really dying?

[chmun77]

Not only Windows phone is dead, but Microsoft actually is still dreaming that their phones are as popular as iPhone. Why - because who in the right mind will buy a SD212 powered phone in the year 2016, when the XiaoMi Note 3 which is powered by the much better SD650 with 3GB of ram and fingerprint sensor is selling at the much lower price point?!

 

[jfavellanedab]

Windows Phone platform is not only about the PHONE itself as a device. It is much much than that. It is about huge integration in games (xgames), music, Movies, Office programs (key aspect, cross platforms), continuum, outlook email and more. With ch?nese platforms you will get cheap, never-software-upgraded phones ( exception of Nexus). Therefore, good luck with your Android.

 

[Matt Dargis]

It is dead to me. Just jumped to Android. Maybe net year MS.

 

[cracgor]

I use YouTube on Xbox all the time. I also use Hulu and Groove on Xbox as well. I'd use Facebook as the web browser experience on Xbox sucks. Apps can provide a vastly superior experience in some cases, especially where repeated logins are an issue. What I mean by that is apps will save the login info and auto log me in, whereas the web browser will not.

I would like apps for my computer for Live Tiles. A live tile that shows the weather forecast, your balance on starbucks, or when your Uber is expected to arrive or to Shazam the song in the caf? while I'm typing away.

I don't need an app on my PC but I see the Live Tiles as a reason I won't have to open an app ever again. The information comes to me. Android uses Widgets for that, Apple has their 3D Touch, Microsoft has Live Tiles that are leagues ahead of both of those other implementations. The sooner people realize that is the future, the sooner devs get on board.

Speaking of which, developers not jumping on it doesn't mean it isn't the best solution. Car manufacturers didn't start making hybrids and electric vehicles en masse until the Toyota Prius started selling like hotcakes. They are happy to keep selling you the same old thing, whether its the best option for you or not, until you finally stop giving them money for it.

What is the truly innovative thing that iPhone and Android phones have brought to the table in the last few years? They are still dumb launching boards for throwaway apps with more memory and ever faster processors. That's it. They haven't made anyone more productive on their own. Sure they have all these apps, but why do people keep shelling out more and more money each year for these devices without any real innovation in return?

The solution that Android uses for information is widgets AND notification cards. I think Notifications was Android's innovation that subsequently was taken by Apple and Microsoft. I liked live tiles on my windows phone (but not anymore than I like notification cards), but I almost never see live tiles on my PC. I rarely go to the Start screen.

 

[luxnws]

I understand your point. I agree. Microsoft isn't throwing in the towel no matter how many click-bait titles say the game is over.

I can't envision that Android and iOS are all there will be in mobile ever. That's just shortsighted and unrealistic. Things change and evolve. I believe Microsoft is trying to evolve in a viable direction.

Threads like this will continue as the tech bloggers won't let it go. We can't shut down all those blogs and closing this discussion off as a topic on the site is a disservice to the members who want to talk it to death and can't let it go because of what they read daily.

As members who are tired of this FUD we have two basic tactics.

A) Insert facts and reasoned arguments

B) Pass on by

It's just a matter of splitting hairs.

Is the horse-and-cart mode of transporting people and goods dead? The Amish might disagree. Almost everyone else would say, "Duh, I never saw a horse on the freeway."

 

[tgp]

I can't envision that Android and iOS are all there will be in mobile ever. That's just shortsighted and unrealistic.

Twenty years ago, who would have thought that in 2016 Windows would have over 90% of the desktop market? That is arguably even worse than what we have in mobile today, which people (at least Microsoft fans) say is bad; Microsoft has the desktop market by themselves. At least Apple and Google are competing against each other. Why is the mobile situation bad for the industry, but a "worse" situation in desktop OK?

For the record, I do not think that the current mobile environment is permanent, but yet, it could be this way for many years to come.

 

[Sensonic]

Windows Phone platform is not only about the PHONE itself as a device. It is much much than that. It is about huge integration in games (xgames), music, Movies, Office programs (key aspect, cross platforms), continuum, outlook email and more. With ch?nese platforms you will get cheap, never-software-upgraded phones ( exception of Nexus). Therefore, good luck with your Android.

When you're purchasing a Chinese Android phone, make sure Cyanogenmod is available for that phone model. Then you'll get upgrades

 

[Felipeicd]

It's stupid from Microsoft to think that everyone is gone wait for them, with their eternal "be patience" I think that people had been patience enough with MS

 

[bluekalo]

i hope they visit this forum so that they will realize how impatient and frustrated there customers are. i am a fan of windows phone and still very patient but still i think this is not acceptable.. actually i have a broken mic 930 i dont know if it is a faulty hardware or with the software problem.. microphone works with cyan but denim upwards it doesnt work anymore. i think windows phone as of the moment is not recommended for people with just basic needs for a phone and understands that updates are continuously made. i hope that microsoft will optimize the os with certain models even for the previous ones

 

[EssThree]

I sure hope Terry Myerson is being straight when he says the mobile push will come next year. I mean, there are a heap of problems with Win10 on mobile that frustrate me on a regular basis, but nothing that reaches the levels of frustration I have with iOS and Android. I shudder at the thought of considering having to make the transition to either.

I really can't wait for smart phones to go away and the next big thing comes along. Either that or some kind of paradigm shift that makes the app gap irrelevant.

 

[darthhen]

I wish WM is not dead....but I have to face reality. To the end consumer like myself, it is dead. I had several Windows Phone...loved them all.

 

[pepsicocom]

In the end, it all depends on the product Microsoft introduces. If it is compelling enough, consumers will adopt it. The timing has not been as good as it is now in years. Apple is reeling from revenue decline in the wake of consumer fatigue over hardware and software releases that noticeably outnumber innovations. The hardware releases of course translate into $600 consumer outlays. Even the most ardent Apple fanboys are beginning to tire of it.

Android would be my first choice if Windows Mobile were no longer available to me. For me, it would be the lesser of two evils. I would miss the potential for tighter desktop and business systems integration. I suppose I am an old fogey because I work for a living and don't have the time or desire to play video games or fiddle with stripped down web sites masquerading as "apps."

 

[chmun77]

Windows Phone platform is not only about the PHONE itself as a device. It is much much than that. It is about huge integration in games (xgames), music, Movies, Office programs (key aspect, cross platforms), continuum, outlook email and more. With ch?nese platforms you will get cheap, never-software-upgraded phones ( exception of Nexus). Therefore, good luck with your Android.

Well, people tends to upgrade their handsets after every 2 years. With that, their new handsets will have the latest android updates. Furthermore, most popular OEMs will provide at least 2 versions upgrades within the 2 years. My old M7 was rocking from Android Jelly Bean to Lollipop. That's really good enough.

 

[mvierling]

Is it dying? No, it is already dead. Microsoft alienated what little fan base they had by going back on their word to upgrade all Windows 8 Lumia phones to Windows 10. They further lost users when by consistently developing better apps on iPhone and Android than on their own system.

 

[robert beadles]

Looks like April was a good month for WP up to 3.9% market share.
http://netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=1

So maybe Microsoft phones are down, WP look to be up.

 

[Alain_A]

They further lost users when by consistently developing better apps on iPhone and Android than on their own system.

that's right, no point of buying win phone anymore

 

[Strfox]

slowing and surely, if all devices would get the Windows 10 upgrade then there'll be hope.
Nobody wants to buy a phone that's not future proof.
iPhone 4/4S got the latest iteration of iOS and it's very old.
Why can't MS do the same ?
That's why Apple keeps snatching the market share.

iPhone 4 had problems with performance even on iOS 7.1, let alone was not upgradeable to iOS8.
Some don't recommend updating iPhone 4S to iOS9 due to performance. While not always the case, I am among the some.
Gotta hand it to them though, iPhone 4S is a very good phone. But it came with a price as well, and now in the future doesn't hold up at all.

Windows Phones aren't any less future proof. We're talking about security proof as well.

 

[jmullins74]

I have been a user of Windows Phone since i bought my Lumia 1520 right after they came out with it and I loved it. However, as the battery won't give me more than 1.5 to 2 hours of real use any longer and I still have no financial apps available I have transitioned back to my iPhone 5s.

I had also upgraded the 1520 to Windows 10 mobile and for the most part loved it. I loved the look and feel of it and the way I could customize my start screen exactly the way I wanted to. I could even look past the bugs. But finally with the battery less than useful the lack of apps got me. The good about the iPhone is it works. It is smooth and predictable and the apps are there and they work. And Microsofts apps work really well on it too. The only inconvenience I have really noticed is related to my Band 2. No Cortana support on the iPhone for the Band. I do miss the look and feel of the OS from Microsoft and maybe sometime soon I can get a new Windows phone with the apps I need.

But until then back to Apple...

 

[hotphil]

I can count on one hand the number of Windows Mobile (any version) handsets I've seen this year. In fact, I'd only need 40% of the digits on that hand.
Dying? Nah, is dead.

 

[Felipeicd]

How many of you keep using windows mobile then?