It will be interesting to see of all of the iPhone 5 issues lead to people switching

[Laura Knotek]

I think MS will gain marketshare from a few people getting bored with Android and iOS, but their main users will come from new smartphone owners. In the US, there's still like 52% of the population that own feature phones and dumb phones.

I think MS will also gain marketshare from former BlackBerry users. I was one. RIM was too slow to offer anything compelling, and I didn't want Android/iPhone, so Windows Phone was the logical move for me.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Agreed. Quite frankly, it's probably better to target non-smartphone owners than conversions.

BlackBerry users are a good target, especially since WP8 will offer more enterprise features.

 

[squire777]

Many Apple fans aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer when it comes to anything tech related. I doubt many of them even know about WP7 and WP8 and would never bother to learn about them. In their eyes anything non-Apple is automatically crap and needs a degree in IT to use.

So even though the iphone 5 is incredibly underwhelming they would never bother to switch.

 

[cgk]

Is it just me who losses all respect for posters who talk about "isheep"? it is just lazy thinking, as lazy as talking about "windoze phone".

 

[Joelist]

Actually Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have a vested interest in having WP8 succeed and become viable - they want leverage to use on Apple to drive down the exorbitant amount of money per unit they pay Apple for those iPhones (Apple gets way more per iPhone than any other OEM gets per smartphone making selling iPhones much less profitable for the carriers). If they have both Android and another viable OS to promote that gives them that leverage.

 

[12Danny123]

Actually Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have a vested interest in having WP8 succeed and become viable - they want leverage to use on Apple to drive down the exorbitant amount of money per unit they pay Apple for those iPhones (Apple gets way more per iPhone than any other OEM gets per smartphone making selling iPhones much less profitable for the carriers). If they have both Android and another viable OS to promote that gives them that leverage.

Agreed. they clearly want Wp8 to succeed. They are gonna advertise hard out. I can See Verizon doing the most of all. Also I thought that Verizon is going all in for Windows phone for the future. and didn't they want most of their sales to be Windows phones in the next 2 years?

 

[DJRedLine]

My other-half got her IP5 on Saturday and we are already getting a replacement.

The call quality is awful compared to the IP4 and she constantly loses signal (even without having to move the phone) but the big issue she has had is that the new charger did not work if the phone had 0 battery life. It took me ages to get the phone to have a small amount of battery charge before it worked correctly. (had to trickle charge via laptop before the wall mount worked)

Speaking to Vodafone they luckily had a small amount of reserves for such issues and have already had a few customers ringing for similar issues.

 

[12Danny123]

My other-half got her IP5 on Saturday and we are already getting a replacement.

The call quality is awful compared to the IP4 and she constantly loses signal (even without having to move the phone) but the big issue she has had is that the new charger did not work if the phone had 0 battery life. It took me ages to get the phone to have a small amount of battery charge before it worked correctly. (had to trickle charge via laptop before the wall mount worked)

Speaking to Vodafone they luckily had a small amount of reserves for such issues and have already had a few customers ringing for similar issues.

Wow tones of problems. My dad got an ip5 today and he's ready to return it completely dissatisfied. it had problems, calling probs, piece of the metal bar was gone( meaning it ripped of) and the screen had already had scratches on it when we got it. and the maps don't even work in our country in NZ He basically hates apple now. I suspect tones of people mad of their ip5 in NZ when we get it

 

[Simon Tupper]

Well if you guys had similar issues with your WP, would you switch?

Personally, I would wait until Microsoft fix it...

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Apple will fix the problems in weeks and it will all iphones will be updated before October ends.

Their update regimen is unparalleled.

How're they going to fix the scratchable case? Will they have the provide free bumpers AGAIN?

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Apple seems to be having a bit of a quality meltdown.

This isn't the first one, just the first after they became the big company they are today.

Classic Mac users can tell you all about what a disaster Apple quality was in the late 1990s into the early 2000s (including the first iPods, which died within six months).

iMacs that would blow their power converters inside 24 months.

iBooks with logic boards that fry after 14 months.

PowerBooks with hinges that would crack in half.

Titanium PowerBooks with paint that would bubble and peel off within six weeks of ownership.

Aluminum PowerBooks that would get so hot the cases would warp and you could rock it on your desk with a finger.

PowerMac G4 cubes that would overheat and crack their cases.

Back then, it was a much smaller business and most complaints stayed "inside the family." Many people took big losses to stick with Apple. After my TiBook caught fire (no joke -- the motherboard literally fried itself) and Apple wouldn't fix it, I gave up on Apple for a long time.

I have a Mac now, but mostly run Windows on it except for web browsing.

This iPhone 5 launch sounds like the TiBook paint or distorting aluminum PowerBook fiasco, but on a massive scale. And this time, it's not loyal cultists like I used to be who are willing to "take one for the team." People expect their high-end Apple stuff to work flawlessly, and will hop to something else in a heartbeat if they believe it is better.

They've got a LOT of work to do, ASAP, to hold their position in the market.

Happened to my old iMac. It had bad Chinese caps and was just out of warranty. HP, Dell, and others on the PC were fixing their machines out of warranty. Not Apple. So I built myself a desktop and have used Windows 7 with no real problems since install. My iBook, the first Mac I bought, had to be repaired three times by Apple due to a video cable that was too thin and would tear in the hinge. Bad design. But at least they did fix that each and every time.

 

[Winterfang]

Is it just me who losses all respect for posters who talk about "isheep"? it is just lazy thinking, as lazy as talking about "windoze phone".

You are not the only one. IOS is fast and smooth and has more apps than anyone.

 

[stmav]

Considering they've been around longer, they should have more apps. But more doesn't necessarily mean better.

 

[Winterfang]

The apps are better also that's a proven fact. Almost every single app we have has a better version on IOS. That's because of the support.

More apps and better apps is kind of a big deal. You don't have to be a sheep to appreciate that.

 

[stmav]

How many apps are really used? Not all of them. So of the ones that are the big mainstream ones, how many are exclusive to apple? Most of the mainstream ones have an android equivalent. Now you may be right, but I haven't heard of any large advantage to the apple version.

Now I'm with you on the isheep thing. There are windows homers as well. But apple users come off as elitist and entitled at times. But that's a part of brand loyalty for some other products as well.

 

[Winterfang]

We don't have any of the mainstream apps.

Instrangram
Pandora
Angry Birds space
Temple run
Youtube
Words with friends
Draw something

I mean, Galaxy 3 owners might have the right to make fun of Apple but me, with my awful LG Optimus 7 that will never be upgraded to 8?

That's just hating on the popular kid.

 

[stmav]

Oh I am well aware that windows phone is lacking some mainstream apps.Some that I'm going to miss when I switch to wp8 until they get a version. My comparison was only with android.

And I'm not hating on apple for having them. If anything, I wish the developers would get moving on a version for us. But I also realize that's not going to happen without more adoption by the public.

 

[Heron_Kusanagi]

The loyalist will take the defects and call it character. And Apple have sedated enough people to earn them tons of cash.

That said, WP8 needs to ship. Like, now. To take advantage of those who have slept for a long time, only to be woken up. No matter how good a product is, it is only as good as vapourware if it doesn't ship.

 

[snowmutt]

@Mr. MacPhisto, comment #23:

Best case scenario. I love a good pep talk!!

I feel 2015 is the first realistic year to push iOS for 2nd. WPOS is just to far behind to expect it in 2014.

Our favorite OS needs serious pushes into the business world and a HUGE turnover from other OS's to do it sooner. Not impossible, but a hard road to go.

 

[Old_Cus]

My other-half got her IP5 on Saturday and we are already getting a replacement.

The call quality is awful compared to the IP4 and she constantly loses signal (even without having to move the phone) but the big issue she has had is that the new charger did not work if the phone had 0 battery life. It took me ages to get the phone to have a small amount of battery charge before it worked correctly. (had to trickle charge via laptop before the wall mount worked)

I remember having the same problem with a few ipods I had. If the instrument died completely I had to charge it overnight for it to start holding a charge again.