Could Microsoft revive windows phone?

[fatclue_98]

What Chris said, plus...... Pricing. Capitalism sums it up, but some people think capitalism is a bad word.

Unfortunately some now equate capitalism with corporate greed. Granted, some a-holes like the PharmaBro have added fuel to the fire and rightly so.

 

[Chen Chi-Hung]

In my observations, there are several serious unsolved problems for WP, w10m, or following mobile device windows OS including the app shortage problem. I wrote a (very long) article to list them with some discussions. The article finished translation into English weeks ago with Bing translator and Google translator.

The article link:
Onedrive - https://1drv.ms/b/s!ArkFMDi26CAEt4Vas-KDjLFw_gUp_Q
Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com/s/esllyhqudm7oxph

The main unsolved problems besides app shortage: low price Android phone models with amazingly good specs, manufacturers’ unwilling to promote, all kinds of blanks, inability to get the mid-/low-end market, and no suitable model to stay in shakeout-maturity stage.

If the problems cannot be solved or effectively alleviated, I do not expect a revival plan will be successful.

 

[oviedofreak82]

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I was burned by Microsoft after many years of loyal support to the platform. Never again. Let the mobile phone endeavour stay dead.

 

[amits1024]

Not just could, but Microsoft seriously have to revive Windows phones as early as possible

Currently people who want to buy simple low or mid range smartphones for $300 or less have just 1 choice - Android with it's poor battery life & hangs. Also Android phones hardly last for 1.5-2 years whereas Windows phones were long lasting and can last more than 4 years easily

Windows phones were popular in Europe & India and Microsoft should have focussed on those markets only and Windows phone would have never died

Too much was made of a virtually non-existent problem called "app-gap". More than 70% of major apps existed in Windows and it terms of games, Windows was right up there. Also there were apps to help cover the app-gap. Now with PWAs, Microsoft should relaunch Windows phones again

Hoping Windows launches the foldable Surface Andromeda and also a 5" Surface phone as well and gets back to mobile

 

[anon(50597)]

Not just could, but Microsoft seriously have to revive Windows phones as early as possible

Currently people who want to buy simple low or mid range smartphones for $300 or less have just 1 choice - Android with it's poor battery life & hangs. Also Android phones hardly last for 1.5-2 years whereas Windows phones were long lasting and can last more than 4 years easily

Windows phones were popular in Europe & India and Microsoft should have focussed on those markets only and Windows phone would have never died

Too much was made of a virtually non-existent problem called "app-gap". More than 70% of major apps existed in Windows and it terms of games, Windows was right up there. Also there were apps to help cover the app-gap. Now with PWAs, Microsoft should relaunch Windows phones again

Hoping Windows launches the foldable Surface Andromeda and also a 5" Surface phone as well and gets back to mobile

It would fail miserably.
I’m sorry, but the app gap did exist, Windows phones were not competitive and Microsoft lost tons of money. I doubt they will make the same mistake twice.

 

[amits1024]

It would fail miserably.
I’m sorry, but the app gap did exist, Windows phones were not competitive and Microsoft lost tons of money. I doubt they will make the same mistake twice.

App gap existed in USA, not in India & Europe. Indian & European apps created in 2013-2016 (when Windows phone were popular), all had a Windows version too

Windows mobile was growing slowly & steadily, mostly in India & Europe before Microsoft killed it off by not releasing new phones. The biggest mistake of Microsoft was not giving enough time to Windows phone. The OS kept getting better & better in 2016 & 2017 and the number of phones kept getting lesser & lesser and that was what killed Windows phone

If Anniversary update in 2016 and the Creators update in 2017 were accompanied with launch of new phones by Microsoft, Windows mobile wouldn't have died. Both updates brought some interesting features which didn't exist previously

 

[amits1024]

And Windows won't fail if given enough time & backing. Loads of people want to move away from Android and have budget of less than $300, and sadly they don't even have a 2nd choice of OS

What a new OS has to do is capture this market and remove Android's weaknesses like poor battery, hangs & lags. And also it should be able to work fine on less hardware. Windows had it & if Windows comes again, they will have these qualities again

 

[anon(50597)]

App gap existed in USA, not in India & Europe. Indian & European apps created in 2013-2016 (when Windows phone were popular), all had a Windows version too

Windows mobile was growing slowly & steadily, mostly in India & Europe before Microsoft killed it off by not releasing new phones. The biggest mistake of Microsoft was not giving enough time to Windows phone. The OS kept getting better & better in 2016 & 2017 and the number of phones kept getting lesser & lesser and that was what killed Windows phone

If Anniversary update in 2016 and the Creators update in 2017 were accompanied with launch of new phones by Microsoft, Windows mobile wouldn't have died. Both updates brought some interesting features which didn't exist previously

How many multi billion dollar corporations have you run? It’s easy (for anyone) to go on the internet and play CEO. It’s another thing to do it. We all get to say “if they had only done this or that” and there’s no pressure at all.
Apple and a Google currently own the smartphone market. Windows phone didn’t have a prayer. The apps that were missing are well documented. I’m not saying that the OS wasn’t efficient or the apps didn’t work, it just didn’t sell. There wasn’t enough interest overall. Playing armchair quarterback is easy.

 

[anon(50597)]

And Windows won't fail if given enough time & backing. Loads of people want to move away from Android and have budget of less than $300, and sadly they don't even have a 2nd choice of OS

What a new OS has to do is capture this market and remove Android's weaknesses like poor battery, hangs & lags. And also it should be able to work fine on less hardware. Windows had it & if Windows comes again, they will have these qualities again

Ok, I’ll sit back and watch. I’d love a 3rd option, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll watch from the sideline.

 

[fatclue_98]

Ok, I’ll sit back and watch. I’d love a 3rd option, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll watch from the sideline.

Speaking of sidelines, is Josh Allen the anointed starter or is he going to watch from afar?

 

[anon(50597)]

Speaking of sidelines, is Josh Allen the anointed starter or is he going to watch from afar?

I betting on about 6 weeks in.

 

[amits1024]

How many multi billion dollar corporations have you run? It’s easy (for anyone) to go on the internet and play CEO. It’s another thing to do it. We all get to say “if they had only done this or that” and there’s no pressure at all.
Apple and a Google currently own the smartphone market. Windows phone didn’t have a prayer. The apps that were missing are well documented. I’m not saying that the OS wasn’t efficient or the apps didn’t work, it just didn’t sell. There wasn’t enough interest overall. Playing armchair quarterback is easy.

There were apps to cover up the app gap too. And in Europe & India there wasn't any app gap. Stop giving replies on a American perspective

 

[amits1024]

Ok, I’ll sit back and watch. I’d love a 3rd option, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll watch from the sideline.

Tell what options a guy has who has a budget of $300 and wants a smartphone and does not want to buy a Android phone due to it's poor battery and frequent hangs. The answer is NONE

This is where Microsoft needs to provide a 2nd alternative. People here need to keep their hatred of Windows phone and USA-centrism aside and think of the rest of the world as well

USA might not want a Windows phone, but Europe & India does want Windows phones

 

[anon(50597)]

There were apps to cover up the app gap too. And in Europe & India there wasn't any app gap. Stop giving replies on a American perspective

So you believe a company can survive only selling to some countries in Europe and India?

 

[anon(50597)]

Tell what options a guy has who has a budget of $300 and wants a smartphone and does not want to buy a Android phone due to it's poor battery and frequent hangs. The answer is NONE

This is where Microsoft needs to provide a 2nd alternative. People here need to keep their hatred of Windows phone and USA-centrism aside and think of the rest of the world as well

USA might not want a Windows phone, but Europe & India does want Windows phones

All Android phones have poor battery and frequently hang? You’ve used them all?
I didn’t want Windows phone to fail. I believe having more options to purchase is good for all, but making excuses for their failure doesn’t help. They need to be profitable to take on the current 2 giants and they weren’t. That is fact.

 

[fatclue_98]

All Android phones have poor battery and frequently hang? You’ve used them all?
I didn’t want Windows phone to fail. I believe having more options to purchase is good for all, but making excuses for their failure doesn’t help. They need to be profitable to take on the current 2 giants and they weren’t. That is fact.

Right now the BlackBerry KEYone and the Sony XA2 Ultra are the kings of battery life but unfortunately Androids still have a penchant for hanging and the odd Messaging app crash.

 

[amits1024]

So you believe a company can survive only selling to some countries in Europe and India?

Yes. Some Chinese phone manufacturers survive by selling phones only in China & some Asian countries

And Europe isn't a small market at all. And India is 1 of the biggest developing markets, so if Microsoft has a Europe + India approach towards Windows phones, they will make good profits. Once they make good profits, then relaunch them in USA

 

[Long Xuyen]

Not only did they throw away their ability to compete in smartphones they threw away the entry portal to computing.

 

[anon(50597)]

Yes. Some Chinese phone manufacturers survive by selling phones only in China & some Asian countries

And Europe isn't a small market at all. And India is 1 of the biggest developing markets, so if Microsoft has a Europe + India approach towards Windows phones, they will make good profits. Once they make good profits, then relaunch them in USA

First of all I disagree. Just because you believe “some” Chinese phone company is selling only to India and Europe doesn’t make it true. If you have proof I would be happy to look at it though. What company? Will they be around in 5 years?
Microsoft is a huge corporation who is not going to produce smartphones for a couple of countries. They have bigger fish to fry. I understand you want them to, because it involves you, but that doesn’t make it a smart business move.

 

[a5cent]

First of all I disagree. Just because you believe “some” Chinese phone company is selling only to India and Europe doesn’t make it true. If you have proof I would be happy to look at it though. What company? Will they be around in 5 years?
Microsoft is a huge corporation who is not going to produce smartphones for a couple of countries. They have bigger fish to fry. I understand you want them to, because it involves you, but that doesn’t make it a smart business move.

Nokia was a huge corporation that sold phones into all large markets except in the U.S. (at least they didn't actively themselves participate in the U.S. market and their market share in the U.S. was negligible). I think that counts as an example of such a company, does it not? Nokia was around for a very long time. Blackberry jumped in the gap and became North America's "Nokia" essentially, but Blackberry had very few places it was even marginally relevant outside of North America.

Companies can do just fine without selling to the U.S. market. Many do.

The U.S. is not a must-have market to sell into. The U.S. is a must-have market for software services however. For most companies this is irrelevant, but if you're Apple, Microsoft or Google, then it does matter. If your lofty goal is to create a computing ecosystem (rather than "just" hardware or software that participates in an existing ecosystem), you can either focus on China (a country that is a fully viable market all on its own), or you need mind-share in the U.S. Without U.S. developers, it's very unlikely you'll ever create an ecosystem that is successful in the western world.