Can Microsoft Ever Recover? Windows 8, Windows Phone, Xbox One, Surface, etc.

[Michael Alan Goff]

umm.. In India if you buy a surface 2 pro, with under 100gb useable storage, it costs about INR 57,000. Dont talk about RT, it just wont work for most stuff in india. For INR 60,000 you get a hp laptop with 8GB ram, 2GB graphics, i5 processor, for all your needs. For people on limited budgets (who comprise 90% of laptop/tablet users), that isn't a fair deal. I know a laptop and a tab cant be compared, but still, i was just giving an idea of how overpriced it is.
MS stuff is expensive by developing countries standards, where a person earning 20-30 thousand USD an year is considered very affluent.

Here we get good android tablets with powerful gaming prowess for INR 10,000 approx. I'd rather buy a INR 50,000 high end laptop and a INR 10,000 tab than a surface pro.

P.s. Dont get me wrong, I'm a big MS fan and a android hater too.. I wouldn't buy a lagdroid tab, instead i'd keep my win8 laptop and buy a new windows phone when i replace my 520..

That's roughly 950$, which is technically less than you'd get it in the US. Computers in general are expensive. Also, you have to think about the extra cost of the touch screen, the pen support, the fact that they made it thin and light, and so forth. When it comes to these things, you're paying for form as well as the computer itself.

 

[bionicgt]

Re: MS Better have something really big planned

I really like the idea of a Windows Phone MINI Version , like the Mini version of the "Surface" like you're calling it... it's a great idea, Lumia Surface and Lumia Surface Mini ... both having great specs like 8 mpx camera for mini and 16 mp for the Surface, and then then Surface X with some impressive 41 mpx? (or maybe even having the phablet model for this device) , and like you said, something that competes with Moto G, with front facing camera, and flash... if we look at the 630, it has no flash and no front facing camera, that's as annoying as the oudated software we're just about to get with 8.1, if they did their best it'd be amazing to inf fact see, at least 2 devices running on all carriers properly ... it's so sad

 

[anon5997296]

I hate to say it but Microsoft literally has no future. They came late in everything and people have set themselves in Google and apple ecosystems, hell they don't even want to look at a different OS. Only a miracle like a great marketing technique or if Apple or Google do something very very stupid can only save Microsoft. As far as financials are concerned, Microsoft will continue to rise, they have a hell lot more resources than we think. Thnx to the person who opened this thread, really interesting topic.

I can save Microsoft, if they do as I say..

 

[fdalbor]

Re: MS Better have something really big planned

I hate to say it; but Microsoft may have waited too long to do a lot of things. The 520 was a great idea and worked very well for awhile. But Android OEM's weren't going to wait for it to take the market. They started comming out with phones in its class and even a little better for the same money. Nokia responded with the 630 and 635; but its not much of a response. And the mid phones were just completely forgotten by Nokia and no real replacement for the 920 until it was also too late and hardly available anywhere.

I got a 820 for myself about 8 months ago, then I got my wife a 925 (great phone) a month ago. I bought us each a 520 for backup just in case. I see nothing to replace my 820 in the future. I like it has the guts of the 9XX series; but has a SD card, removeable battery, dual band wifi, 5 antennas instead of two like on the 9XX series, wireless charging etc. Its a great phone and I have a 64GB sd card in it for great storage. Its also a 1/2 inch smaller than the 9XX phones; but has a screen that is only .2 of an inch smaller. I have a feeling we will never see a replacement for it or the 7XX series (also a good phone).

I hope Microsoft gets it in gear pretty soon. I've done my part by purchasing 4 WP8 phones and I push the line whenever I can. I thought things were getting better then this last quarter was a bomb shell. Now everyone is in the smartphone business, even Amazon (I have two Kindle Fires). I just hope they did not wait too long to get things going.

 

[HeyCori]

Nokia posts Q1 interim report, handset sales down 30 percent | Windows Phone Central

I can't say I'm that surprised. The dip is a culmination of several different problems.

- 8.1 still not released through carriers
- No high-end 4-4.7 inch handsets
- Better low end handsets from competitors
- Nokia deal closing several months late
- Which lead to lukewarm advertising of Lumia handsets
- Limited devices available on non-AT&T carriers
- The slow death of feature phones

Hopefully things can improve now that Microsoft is in charge. Their massively superior bank account means Microsoft can offer better low-end devices at similar price points. Having Nokia's software team should improve development time and push out new apps/updates faster. Microsoft can (and should) start another multi-billion dollar marketing campaign. And with Nokia's manufacturing plants, Microsoft could even entice other OEMs by offering to produce WP handsets for them. I'm not sure what Microsoft can do about the carriers being overly selective (especially Verizon and Sprint). I would suggest Microsoft expand their offerings on smaller carriers and build from there. As for feature phones, that's a market that might never recover.

 

[Saksham Sharma]

I hate to say it; but Microsoft may have waited too long to do a lot of things. The 520 was a great idea and worked very well for awhile. But Android OEM's weren't going to wait for it to take the market. They started comming out with phones in its class and even a little better for the same money. Nokia responded with the 630 and 635; but its not much of a response. And the mid phones were just completely forgotten by Nokia and no real replacement for the 920 until it was also too late and hardly available anywhere.

I got a 820 for myself about 8 months ago, then I got my wife a 925 (great phone) a month ago. I bought us each a 520 for backup just in case. I see nothing to replace my 820 in the future. I like it has the guts of the 9XX series; but has a SD card, removeable battery, dual band wifi, 5 antennas instead of two like on the 9XX series, wireless charging etc. Its a great phone and I have a 64GB sd card in it for great storage. Its also a 1/2 smaller than the 9XX phones; but has a screen that is only .2 of an inch smaller. I have a feeling we will never see a replacement for it or the 7XX series (also a good phone).

I hope Microsoft gets it in gear pretty soon. I've done my part by purchasing 4 WP8 phones and I push the line whenever I can. I thought things were getting better then this last quarter was a bomb shell. Now everyone is in the smartphone business, even Amazon (I have two Kindle Fires). I just hope they did not wait too long to get things going.

true.. They didn't push out the mid range segment, and are losing out badly. We really need a 720/820 successor now, as android users wont ever switch to dual core 1.2/1.5ghz because they don't know that these specs are still great for wp.

 

[rodan01]

After these numbers I think the best prospect for "Microsoft Mobile" is the Nokia X. Microsoft needs devices to distribute their services, if the people wants android then they have to give them Android.
Without services Windows Phone is dead, the OS is free, the only way to recover the investment is making money from services. If the Nokia X is successful Windows Phone could survive as a parasite, and maybe flourish in the future with better conditions.

 

[A895]

true.. They didn't push out the mid range segment, and are losing out badly. We really need a 720/820 successor now, as android users wont ever switch to dual core 1.2/1.5ghz because they don't know that these specs are still great for wp.

It`s not the midrange because all WP`s outside the ATIV SE, Lumia Icon, 930, and 1520 are midrange. It`s that there is not a wide availability of high end handsets and the lack of some apps (I know this get`s repeated but it`s true). The Icon, ATIV, and 1520 are carrier exclusives and no will jump ship to a device no on their carrier when you have high end devices running Android available from all carriers. The M8, S5, Note 3, Moto X, G2, and even the Nexus 5 (can be had on 3/4 big carriers) have much larger availability than any high end WP device right now.

 

[Jas00555]

true.. They didn't push out the mid range segment, and are losing out badly. We really need a 720/820 successor now, as android users wont ever switch to dual core 1.2/1.5ghz because they don't know that these specs are still great for wp.

Being that most of Android is located in the developing world, I'm not sure that most Android users even know what "dual-core 1.2 Ghz" even means.

 

[jojoe42]

Being that most of Android is located in the developing world, I'm not sure that most Android users even know what "dual-core 1.2 Ghz" even means.

But they have a relative idea, most consumers know that the more cores and the higher the numbers the apparent "better" it is. My problem with Microsoft is lack of clarity and judgement amongst consumers. Most consumers skip WP because (in Android's case) higher specs are better and since iOS doesn't offer as much hardware variety they see WP as inferior because of the hardware, without realising the optimisation behind it. My friends who have GS4s often tease me over my 1020 and it's dual-core processor, but yet their phones always crash and reboot doing things. It's consumer ignorance and them being misinformed. I have a friend who has a Surface RT and hates it. Why? She doesn't like Windows 8. Why? Because it's hard to use. Why? Because it's DIFFERENT. MS never really did enough on how to use Windows 8/WP8, or made it easy to transition from a different OS/old Windows to Windows/WP8 from a UX standpoint.

I think they need to differentiate from everyone else (which they need to do after catching up in the WP8.1 update) in terms of features, advertise more about what's so great about the MS ecosystem BECAUSE of these differences (when I'm using OneNote w/ the pen in class people always go wow over it) and also more advertising over how to use Windows with a few SIMPLE RULES. People atm seem to think Windows 8 is complicated and tricky

 

[chinesepiratefood]

I love how everyone sees mobile as the be all end all for a company to thrive. Will Microsoft ever reach a Windows style dominance on the mobile side? Almost certainly not, I doubt even Android will ever reach the 95% + market share range. But Surface has had a huge boost in revenue, and while the XB1 isn't selling as well as the PS4 it is still selling well. I think a lot of people have no clue how many markets Microsoft is in, it puts most of the other "big" competitors to shame, its just that most of those markets are enterprise specific.

 

[A895]

I love how everyone sees mobile as the be all end all for a company to thrive. Will Microsoft ever reach a Windows style dominance on the mobile side? Almost certainly not, I doubt even Android will ever reach the 95% + market share range. But Surface has had a huge boost in revenue, and while the XB1 isn't selling as well as the PS4 it is still selling well. I think a lot of people have no clue how many markets Microsoft is in, it puts most of the other "big" competitors to shame, its just that most of those markets are enterprise specific.

Because Microsoft is so diversified they can of course thrive without mobile. But there is no denying the fact mobile is the future. Why do you think various companies and services put emphasis on mobile apps? They know they can have a lot of users that way. Mobile is what is driving Samsung`s growth. Have you looked at their numbers? They made over $30 billion dollars from mobile alone this past quarter. That speaks volumes of how valuable mobile can be.

 

[Tepid]

Complicated and tricky cause pseudo tech-journos flooded the net with misinformation and ill will opinion about the new look. So perception mounted and the Horribly awful commercials that said absolutely nothing about the system at all.



Lets dance and make a bunch of clicking sounds and look like we are having fun. It was about the most amazingly stupid thing any CEO could have allowed to ever happen.



They do need a stronger campaign to show what all these devices do together.



There were a couple but they were aired far less than the others.



They definitely need to spend more money on advertising, but properly. I am not so sure MS knows exactly how to market the new line yet.



What I will say, is my Icon is a friggin solid as hell device. Had to reboot a couple of times, but not many. And apps don't crash. Heck, none of my WIN8 devices do, period.

 

[TechFreak1]

Imo windows phone adverts sometimes don't show real world benefits. I admit there several "critical" flaws when its comes to productivity or rather attachments but in this day and age we should be sharing links instead as it makes collaboration so much easier and you don't several versions of the same document floating around. I can tell you this archaic way has been the bane of my life for the past several years.

 

[Xellsama]

I haven't checked these numbers independently, but assuming they are correct, there is one very clear conclusion...
Microsoft products are MASSIVELY MASSIVELY overpriced.

You might think the iPhone is expensive, but in comparison, it's nothing. I suggest that we ALL boycott ALL Microsoft products until they reduce the prices by at least 50%. That will still leave them with an acceptable profit.

Wow you really have no idea about anything, maybe you should go to school and learn something useful.

Microsoft is mainly in the software and service industry, Apple is mainly in the hardwares. The two industry's margins differ greatly, with different business models. In terms of hardwares, Apple has higher margin than all the other computer and phone manufacturers while producing product of equal or lower spec, hence overpriced. Microsoft products are generally inline with other software makers (you know, like Adobe Photoshop, AutoCAD, etc), hence fairly priced by industry standard.

Two, lowering price will not have an "acceptable profit". Higher profit = better, same for all industry anywhere. Why has MSFT stock not changed much over the years? Because the profit is barely acceptable for shareholders (which include your average joe investors as well). Why did Apple stock soar since 2007? Because the profit is great! Why is the profit for Apple great? Because they have higher margin than their competitors.

Every single one of your post is filled with ignorance and immaturity, talking about stuff that you obviously have no knowledge in.

 

[bionicgt]

I need WP to not die

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[bionicgt]

I'll be sad if they go android

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[Tepid]

They are not going Android.

If MS does that they will lose all credibility, it would further damage their image.

They aren't that stupid

 

[rodan01]

They are going to do both, AOSP and WP. The need more people using their services, the need scale to make them profitable, so they need Android. Without services WP is dead.

 

[A895]

They are going to do both, AOSP and WP. The need more people using their services, the need scale to make them profitable, so they need Android. Without services WP is dead.

No. Microsoft will not and should not use Android. If you suggested this back in 2012/early 2013 maybe I would agree with you. But WP is the now the third OS worldwide. Microsoft has money and patience, they can make WP successful without Android.

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