Just got my lumia 950 xl, love WP 10! Why is WP having a hard time?

[levy shikukui]

I think the best way let Microsoft perfect windows 10 mobile while we wait for great surface hardware if it will come.On my opinion Microsoft should now start making windows 10 roms to run on any andriod device if possible eve IOS hardware,let them sell the roms and we will have choice of hardware in the market but stills get the windows OS we love so much.I have been in insider ring from day 1,for sure windows 10 mobile is now almost mature ,only few glitches,Thanks MS,from Sir Gabel to Madam Dona.nice job we are proud us insiders.

 

[FAHMI BASSEM]

I'm Glad you have the courage to make the switch!
You're one of very small group of people who see things from their own perspective, experience, and doesn't make decisions according to people's opinions! (You're adventurous)!!!

Even if W10M got all the features + the apps it lacks, without a proper advertising plan, the userbase won't grow that much.

 

[JW888]

To me, is the app gaps

 

[Vernon Vincent]

I think Perception is one of the biggest factors, which in turn leads to the Apps problem. Windows Phone was seen out of the gate as being too little too late. Rather than being praised for their unique UI design, which was and still is (to me) a far superior interface than either Android or iOS, Microsoft has been criticized for how the mobile OS was short of the offerings from Google and Apple. Couple this with a distinct bias over the last decade by the hip developers to build for Apple and, later, Android while decrying Microsoft and Windows as 'dead'.

Had the developer community embraced Windows Phone, I think Microsoft would have provided more resources toward it to help it become more of a success. Remember that they also pulled their bridge application to let Android apps run on Windows Phone - the reason being the bridge app worked too well, removing any incentive for developers to build apps that used a WP-specific design or features.

With all of that said - I think Continuum is the future. Full Windows OS on ARM means that the same OS can be deployed on hardware from a mobile device with a 4" display upwards to any desktop-class system with the supporting range of peripherals. That redefines what a mobile device is because there's no longer a material distinction between a phone and a computer. I fully expect to see smaller form factor devices with USB3.1/Thunderbolt that can connect to an EGPU, which will eventually let you run games like Skyrim or whatever from any device. So I don't think Microsoft's mobile ambitions are dead, but I do think they've substantially rethought the concept of mobile, which doesn't include Windows Phone in its current incarnation.

 

[toph36]

Most people still do not know that Windows Phone/Mobile even exists. When they see my Lumia Icon, they assume it is an Android, if they know it is not an iPhone.

 

[Withheld]

For the love of ...... why does this have to be posted every day now?

 

[anestacom]

I'm using 930 and I just want an upgraded hardware because for some reason 930 is not supported for the next software update. Elite x3 is not Microsoft/Nokia so no. 950 was released in 2015 and it's 2017 now. If they would just put together a phone with latest chipset, windows 10 and even with the same camera as 950, I would buy it but they're not doing it. It's such a sad case that a big fan that supported MS since WP7 and fully invested in MS ecosystem has to buy an android and move on (they're well supported in android anyway)

 

[NutmegState]

A better question is why is WC so obsessed? It is like you broke up with a girlfriend who was not really nice to you to begin with but you can't stop talking about her.

W10 is done it is over. Microsoft never did what they should have done. Developers never cared. Microsoft never had the mind share and whatever they had is now lost. Sure, there are people with phones but who cares because there is no future upgrade path. Once that 950XL is busted it is all over.

You can talk about it all you want like a school girl talks about boy bands but it is over. When Microsoft will not even update its own software on the phone -- simple stuff like Microsoft Authenticator, it is over.

Here is Microsoft's plan, get cozy with Samsung and other Android vendors and make Android a first class experience on Windows 10 and on the Android platform using Microsoft Apps. This way they can keep riding the patent money train on Android. All of Microsoft revenue is Azure, Office 365 and Surface Tablet products and some with XBox. There is no more phone and a reboot would just be expensive and fail once again because so many people are already tied to a Android or iOS eco system and developers are not going to waste any energy on a platform which will bring them zero revenue.

Even if there is evidence that the 950/XL are better phones, who cares. The Zune was a better MP3 player. It was too late and they made to many mistakes. The world of technology is full of better products that have failed because there was not enough mind share. When you are making a product that is not unique or different you have be way better and you have to promote the crap out of it. They did not. Simple example, they did not bother to certify the 950 on any other carrier other than AT&T. They could have made their own versions of the top 25 most used mobile apps, they did not.

I have switched to the Android platform and its awful in my opinion clunky UI. I hate it, but I know that two year from now I can get another phone and just move my stuff over. I will get used to this Android POS eventually but I am over WM.

Stop writing love letters -- Windows Phone is gone and not returning. Really, it is more healthy if we all just had a funeral for the phone and move on.

 

[PeterFnet]

Can't say it's a lack of commitment since they've stuck with it for so long. But I'd say it's the fact they keep looking for short-term gains and don't stick with ideas.

For example, I brought my parents into Windows Phone 7. They loved it! They were syncing their content to and from the phone over Wi-Fi. They'd almost never plug it in. Once Windows Phone 8 came out, they were upset they had to buy a new phone to get the new software to avoid being left behind. They felt disenfranchised since they lost a lot of the features they liked in 7. Remember hubs? They started to dabble with Windows 8.1 on desktop and mobile and were excited at the prospect of the same apps existing on mobile, tablet, and desktop. Once Windows 10 came out, all apps geared towards desktop and laptop migrated from Universal 8.1 to 10 and they got left behind on 8.1, or join the insider program/dev program to bypass.

To my surprise, they agreed to update to Windows 10 and buy a new phone. My parents had the benefit of me laying out the pros and cons, how can the rest of the market be expected to stick with it?

 

[tubatrottel]

Just switched from android to to Windows Mobile 10 with a nice Lumia 950 xl. I'm going to be blunt, I can't see why Windows phone is having any problems at all. The OS is great. Windows Mobile 10 is amazing. Easy, fast, feeling like Windows on my PC. I kinda can't see why its not doing so good. Now being that my last Windows phone was a dell venue pro witch was WP7, I have missed a lot. I don't know all the dark times. But as someone who I's coming fresh to the new current WP10. It owns. Great hand set. The switch coming from a galaxy s4 was very easy. I got basically everything my old phone had.

This kinda make me ask, why is WP having such troubled times, and has such a bad rap? Microsoft should be purring everything into this. Not trying do do a 3rd time WP reboot/reset. This OS is great, its got some much potential. If they really tried I could see them, one day, being 15% to 20% of the phone market possibly. Microsoft should be rolling out updates for this OS every week. Is Microsoft not trying or something? Everyone thinks this OS is dead witch is really sad.

For our company the worst is the lack of hardware.
We want windows mobiles, but can't get them for contract renewal at t-mobile.
Thats a desaster for microsofts so called business strategy.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

That is complete BS from MS as any and everyone knows that in order to gather interest or garner it that there has to be something that peaks the consumer's interests. Had MS put more effort into the OS then all the constant marketshare talk would be null and void because there would be continued interest and as such the devs would've been updating and creating apps for the OS. There's no one in the history of business that will create for a non-existing consumer base. Who at MS actually have degrees in commonsense? WHO!!! All MS had to do was to make the latest update to the Windows10 Mobile OS a true creator's update by bringing more functionality to it and bring back gestures, tweaking the home screen tiles, bringing font style change system wide along with making the OS feel truly like "Windows 10" with it's fluidity and speed. That's all MS had to do and the interest would have started to grow.

Did either Google or Apple query market share when they started or did they build and build and improve and improve to get the market share to where it is now. So what's the %$#@ issue MS?

I agree with a lot of that. But what certainly appears to be a lack of common sense could be a combination of that and fear of losing. The Arizona lottery advertises that "you can't win if you don't play". It goes without saying that you also can't lose if you don't play. By pretending you aren't playing the same game the competition is, you can say you aren't losing.

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

At this point, the question is moot, and kind of academic.

The platform can't suddenly become popular again, because there isn't new hardware, from a major OEM on the market, running W10 Mobile. Even the HP x3, which generally can't be purchased at retail, is a device from last year, and as time goes on, HP will eventually sunset it.

The platform won't become successful based on users buying old second hand devices from eBay. It's a tree-falling-in-the-forest question: if the OS keeps getting updates, but there's nothing left to run it on, for an average consumer....does the OS even exist as an option?

IMO any new 'Surface Phone' or 'Surface Mobile-Device-with-Phone' from Microsoft is likely at least two years away, 2019 at the earliest; Windows on ARM will have to run reliably and fast enough, without bugs, for the general consumer, until Microsoft will feel comfortable releasing hardware, and further, until Microsoft has a better story for developers to come back to the platform (thus far UWP and the Windows Store has been a bust). That's not happening this year, or the next.

 

[tigermcm]

just a quick question........when was the last time there was an advertisement for windows phone? last I remember was windows phone 7 nothing after that. that's part of the problem I feel

 

[jazman_777]

At this point, the body is twitching, but it's just nerves, not a sign of life. The autopsy will be done, and Microsoft will plug along like nothing happened.

 

[explorador75]

Well i still use and love my 950 xl , but now cause a job that I am doing I had to get an android phone!, I tried to use the android as my main phone but I didn't like the experience, I am so use to windows , I think everything is easier and faster to use.
I think that before all the apps that w.p does not have , Microsoft must fix the user experience on w.p 10 and make it perfect.
Second the must make edge perfect on phones cause that way I can do stuff on the web better than the safari or chrome.
And third , be worry about applications and other staff!!!

 

[MrockNroll]

nice pink Floyd tie in time to play my animals CD.

 

[davebwi]

App Gap is an issue for me , AND Samsung Pay is amazing.. Microsoft Wallet has potential but.. no Banks on it..afew but needs more to sway people over

 

[Johnny Tremaine]

just a quick question........when was the last time there was an advertisement for windows phone? last I remember was windows phone 7 nothing after that. that's part of the problem I feel

Again, what are they going to advertise? The last major device, the x3, was an Enterprise only device, that was very briefly available at Microsoft retail stores, and then pulled. The Alcatel device was a one-off from a telecom equipment builder who occasionally builds consumer devices, but that isn't their bread and butter. Alcatel really isn't a consumer-familiar brand, like a Samsung, LG or even Huawei.

How would you advertise W10 Mobile *today*? There's literally nothing NEW available at any major carrier to advertise. And there doesn't look to be in the near future either.

 

[Johnathan Dalipsingh]

MS has a plan to make its platform viable for many years to come. Because of this, mobile isn't quite there yet. That doesn't mean they don't care, its dead, or they don't know what they're doing as some will have you believe. It means they're focused on their plan and it will come in due time. I don't think there's anything we can do to speed them up.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

This is just me, but I use an Asus Tab that I bought from Microsoft the other day in Tablet mode and quite frankly, I love it, I think that this mode can work perfectly for phone screens and I think that MS thinks so too. Cause they will implement CShell in Windows 10 and use this tablet mode (or add a phone mode) for smaller screen devices. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jmthomas1987]

Win10 Mobile could be saved, but it would take some major courage by a number of people to make the changes required:

1) Fire Nadella right now. Either that, or move him over to the Cloud play area and leave him there. He has no vision for Mobile, nor the desire to make it work from everything I have read he has written and from hearing his speeches. He has no "fire in the belly" to make it a viable mobile OS. He is just chasing the quarterly balance sheet for an easy paycheck.

2) Stop waiting for app developers in the hopes they will make apps for Win Mobile. Either make the app in house, and have a dev team to fully support it, i.e. MS Office, or else simply buy the app maker outright.

If MS wants to honestly compete in the mobile environment, buy up Snap Chat, Instagram, and a few of the other popular apps if they don't want to support the OS with their own apps. Make it worth their while to make apps for Win Mobile. Apple is willing to, and MS could clean Apple's clock if they actually tried.

As far as apps like banking apps, build a secure UWP app in-house, then go to the bank and offer it for either free, or at a minimal license fee, while providing complete support so the bank doesn't have to worry about supporting it. Make it profitable for both parties.

3) Get out and actually ADVERTISE Win Mobile!! Make direct comparison adds to Apple and Android. Stop waiting and hoping for the Internet blog world, (who already have written you off), to give you decent reviews. Make your own buzz. Just make dang sure that you have all your ducks in a row and the OS and apps can compete on a one on one basis.

The above actions would require actual guts to execute, and I just don't see the with the current MS management.