They keep using the word "soon" but market share waits for no OS (marketshare slide)

[Jcmg62]

The latest OS market share numbers are out and while WP is holding steady in places, it's clear they're struggling to find the traction they need in the marketplace. The US and China make for particularly grim reading.

Windows Phone’s Growth Slightly Slows in Europe in May, Kantar Says

Ordinarily, I wouldn't give a crap about this sort of thing. After all, it's Microsoft's problem. They need to kick the *** out of the sales & marketing department. But as a dedicated WP user I'm painfully aware of one absolute fact: when developers are thinking about writing apps for an OS, they're paying close attention to those market share numbers. And if those numbers don't add up they'll not bother to support the platform.

And what's with Microsoft's over-use of the word "soon"!??!

Seriously, it's like waiting for a bus in the freaking pouring rain. Everything about them these days is coming "soon"

You want cortana? It'll be here....soon

How about W8.1? Or maybe Cyan....oh wait, that'll be here.....soon

Native folder support....soon

Something REALLY BIG that'll "upset the world"......soon (and btw, if this announcement turns out to be something naff like native folder support there's going to be a lot of WTF comments on the forums...)

Damn Microsoft!!! Here's a little bit of end user feedback....while your PR department dreams up another way to use the word soon in a really dumbass way your market share erodes and people start to lose interest. So if you've got a few good concepts sitting on the substitute bench NOW would be a really good time to get them into play.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

It's not about Microsoft at all, it's about consumers who are not patient at all. The thing is you want so much the update or "increasing market share" (another bla-bla) that you begin to blame MS for it's "failures" or whatever.
Just keep waiting patiently. People were using WP 8.0 without any issues, the same is now (what's the share of WP 8.1 among the entire Windows phone? <10%).

 

[awesomeindeed]

The problem is that MS likes to announce stuff that's coming "soon" when it is in fact not coming soon. Other hardware and software manufacturers & developers announce stuff when it's just about ready for public consumption. It whets the appetite just enough before people get it in their hands and then get all their friends to buy one. MS has always been notoriously slow at this. If they don't get things in gear, they will simply be left behind. Some aspects of the company have improved in this area, but as a whole, they are still pretty poor at the delivery end of things.

 

[rodan01]

All the companies make announcements months before the release date.

You want iOS8? Soon.
Android L? Soon.
Android car? Soon.
Moto 360? Soon.
Etc.

 

[meddyrainzo]

It's not about Microsoft at all, it's about consumers who are not patient at all. The thing is you want so much the update or "increasing market share" (another bla-bla) that you begin to blame MS for it's "failures" or whatever.
Just keep waiting patiently. People were using WP 8.0 without any issues, the same is now (what's the share of WP 8.1 among the entire Windows phone? <10%).

The smartphone market is an impatient market. It's growing rapidly

 

[Great deal]

If they don't pull their act together, im leaving....soon

 

[anon(5969054)]

Obviously Joe Belfiore is some kind of alien with a life expectancy of 1000 years. He has the time experience of a snail. For him 1 month is relatively equal to 1 day for us normal human beings. Soon, for us, the hope for next week, is in Belfiore-time 5 months. Soon from MS is equal to: Hello people, we just recently had the idea to start producing this. To keep you all interested, we will give you a 'soon' today. Secretly we yet have to start.

 

[Jcmg62]

Obviously Joe Belfiore is some kind of alien with a life expectancy of 1000 years. He has the time experience of a snail. For him 1 month is relatively equal to 1 day for us normal human beings. Soon, for us, the hope for next week, is in Belfiore-time 5 months. Soon from MS is equal to: Hello people, we just recently had the idea to start producing this. To keep you all interested, we will give you a 'soon' today. Secretly we yet have to start.

I couldn't agree more with this....completely on point. The rule of thumb should be tease.....2 weeks to 1 month wait time maximum then release.

The problem with teasing technology is that it moves too damn fast. Some companies can get away with teasing new products then making the market wait a few months, but not technology companies. You want to tease Cortana then make me wait 6-12 months for it.....sorry but by then Android and Apple have cottoned onto your "next big thing". So, by the time Cortana makes it around the world Siri and Google Now have made their own improvements and Cortana becomes......meh.

Microsoft need to get much, much snappier with this. They should approach a product release like its a rocket about to go boom under their feet.

Develop a product, take your time, refine it, make it as close to perfect as you can. Then tease us, get us excited, make us want to want your product....then RELEASE RELEASE RELEASE......not 6 months later, not 3 months later....NOW....2 weeks after announcing it!! Why? Because that'll make you look like a **** hot and massively relevant tech company in the eyes of your customers.

 

[wuiyang]

why they preview their product earlier than release date:
1. to compete other brand, eg: HTC One M8, LG ...., Samsung "new phone", HTC poke on samsung, saying their phone is way better than their
2. preview to let user to have time to take change, you dont release a new phone instantly, without any preview, people mostly unnoticeable if you do that, so that is why there are rumors, hint by themselves, leak

 

[tgp]

All the companies make announcements months before the release date.

You want iOS8? Soon.
Android L? Soon.
Android car? Soon.
Moto 360? Soon.
Etc.

True, but there's a good argument that these actually will release soon. The things arriving "soon" that are discussed on this forum don't have such a good track record.

 

[Jcmg62]

True, but there's a good argument that these actually will release soon. The things arriving "soon" that are discussed on this forum don't have such a good track record.

Yip....couldn't agree more. As a UK user July is going to be a telling month for me when it comes to this whole "soon" business that MS likes to push. We've been promised 8.1, Cyan AND Cortana this month.......the clock is ticking

 

[Blacklac]

True, but there's a good argument that these actually will release soon. The things arriving "soon" that are discussed on this forum don't have such a good track record.

8.1 and Cyan are already rolling out. Surely everyone here understands the carrier handles the update? No one mentions switching carriers though...

 

[rodan01]

True, but there's a good argument that these actually will release soon. The things arriving "soon" that are discussed on this forum don't have such a good track record.

Not really. The Moto 360 was announced months ago, where is it?
When do you expect to get Android L on current devices? 2015? For most phones never?
What about Android Car? 2015?

Besides, some of the things you take as announcements in your op are just rumors.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

Not really. The Moto 360 was announced months ago, where is it?
When do you expect to get Android L on current devices? 2015? For most phones never?
What about Android Car? 2015?

Besides, some of the things you take as announcements in your op are just rumors.

The most obvious example is Google Glass. When was it announced..? I don't remember....

 

[David P2]

8.1 and Cyan are already rolling out. Surely everyone here understands the carrier handles the update? No one mentions switching carriers though...

Nah they just go ROM hunting instead lol

 

[rodan01]

The most obvious example is Google Glass. When was it announced..? I don't remember....

Apple announced "iOS in the car" aka CarPlay in June 2013.

 

[rodan01]

Duplicated.

 

[anon(5969054)]

I wish the word soon got by definition a world wide time cap. I realize this is problematic matter, as it is a relative term. But in the field of tech releases, there is no need for such magical treatment of time. The cap should be about 1 month imo.

 

[JasonKruys]

8.1 and Cyan are already rolling out. Surely everyone here understands the carrier handles the update? No one mentions switching carriers though...

In the UK it is far more common to have a device that is not tied to the carrier at all. I, for example, am just reliant on Microsoft/Nokia releasing it. So, indeed, July will be a telling month for me, as described by that user.