My oh My where are the Premium Windows phones? Missing the Holiday season is a disaster

[thundr51]

Also, you're not paying only $200 for that new phone after two years. You're making a $200 down payment. The balance, which is more than what you would have paid up front, is spread out in monthly payments over that two years. Ever wonder why the prepaid plans are so much cheaper than contract plans? Hint: it ain't for roaming and faster mobile data speeds.

True, but most (lower income) people only think about how much am I paying NOW? How much money do I have to give you to get this in my pocket NOW? These are the mostly the same people living paycheck to paycheck and simply have never been taught how to budget/save or have no idea about how much a phone actually costs. These people don't have 300-600 to drop on a phone. That said, I do believe that MS is making the correct steps. The US basically belongs to Android and Apple. Why not go to where you may a have a chance on getting a foot hold? MS' history is in the low end of the market, guess they're going back to their roots. Do I want a premium windows phone? As an owner of a 8x that's still on Tmobile, absolutely. But knowing that the best selling windows phone was the 52x line says a lot.

 

[dezzilakk]

Microsoft has lost the high end market. Period. It's over. Their best chance is at the low end. If you're a spec junkie, you're on the wrong platform. Time to face reality.

Also, you're not paying only $200 for that new phone after two years. You're making a $200 down payment. The balance, which is more than what you would have paid up front, is spread out in monthly payments over that two years. Ever wonder why the prepaid plans are so much cheaper than contract plans? Hint: it ain't for roaming and faster mobile data speeds.

This is terrible news for anyone.

 

[paulxxwall]

Microsoft has lost the high end market. Period. It's over. Their best chance is at the low end. If you're a spec junkie, you're on the wrong platform. Time to face reality.

Also, you're not paying only $200 for that new phone after two years. You're making a $200 down payment. The balance, which is more than what you would have paid up front, is spread out in monthly payments over that two years. Ever wonder why the prepaid plans are so much cheaper than contract plans? Hint: it ain't for roaming and faster mobile data speeds.

I am unfortunately realizing this now....sucks how there's no awesome mobile os
Android is buggy and unsecured but always have the sweetest phones....IOS is soooooo boring but they are not carrier locked,by pass carriers for updates and have the most polished apps......wp.....omg were to start.....sure the os is smooth......lack of phone selection, ridiculously locked to carriers......least amount of apps and the apps we do have , have maybe half the IOS and android features, or are and always be in beta ! Wow so all ms needs to actually be near perfect is, new phones, more apps and better app quality wow, for such a big company ..this seems impossible for them!

 

[djarchow]

Here is the article about the comments from the president of Alcatel about there being no market for high end MS phones and all the opportunity being on the low end.

The future of Windows Phone? At the low end, says Alcatel | Technology | theguardian.com

 

[Harry Wild]

With Microsoft strategy of exclusivity - now even more so - one Lumia model per carrier unless it is budget phone; they are just asking for a big drop in market share! I don't think many people who current use a WP will switch carriers. They will either buy something else or try for the Latin America Lumia models when they come out! I think word of mouth between friends sell more WP then the retail associates at Verizon, AT&T, etc....

We will see what the numbers look like for market share in the U.S. in January!

 

[rld082982]

Do you honest think that the holiday shopping season would help Microsoft sell more phones? Nothing can, the moronic consumers have spoken, all they care about is ios/android. Even if WP is better.... it doesn't matter

 

[BobLobIaw]

I'd love to get a premium WP right now as I'm ending my 920 contract next month. Nevertheless, my phone still works fine and I am paying the unsubsidized rate on AT&T ($15 vs. $40) so I'm not so impatient that I don't like saving some money until next spring. Like anyone, I fault MS for missing the holiday season but I'd rather that they take some extra time to release a true flagship that is well-received by consumers. We'll see soon if they can pull it off.

 

[dov1978]

When the guy at Alcatel says the future of Windows Phone is the low end market he doesn't mean there shouldn't be any high end phones. What he means is the low end market is what will get a high adoption rate for the platform. Once there is a larger core market share all these new (and us current users) are gonna want to move up to better phones when they have enough faith in it to commit their hard earned money to. It's a strategy Android have been successfully using. Their core consumers are low end handset users. They barely break even if at all on premium handsets. Look at Samsung!

 

[Bodeanicus]

This is terrible news for anyone.

How? It's about survival, now. The only major carrier that shows Windows Phone ANY kind of respect is ATT, and that isn't saying much. They need to focus on the prepaid market to gain marketshare. THEN, if they gain over 10% marketshare, start worrying about the high end for spec nerds. You people don't seem to realize that if things don't pick up for Windows Phone rather quickly, Microsoft WILL pull the plug on the whole thing. Remember the Zune and the Kin?

 

[thundr51]

wp.....omg were to start.....sure the os is smooth......lack of phone selection, ridiculously locked to carriers......least amount of apps and the apps we do have , have maybe half the IOS and android features, or are and always be in beta ! Wow so all ms needs to actually be near perfect is, new phones, more apps and better app quality wow, for such a big company ..this seems impossible for them!

As a developer I think most of the apps are limited because of MS' desire to keep malware to a minimum. The phone api's (of which there are 2) are fairly young and very limited. MS' is not allowing access to system functions and that's why the feature parity is not there. I understand why MS is doing what they are doing (protecting users data/phones) but I also feel that there is much more work to be done. They want to avoid malware/bad developers adding processes that bog the system down (android). Adding the permission dialogs is a step but when something goes wrong people (rarely) place the blame where it belongs...instead you get 'Windows/Microsoft sucks!' when MS had nothing to do with the app. There's a middle ground...MS just hasn't gotten there yet...but they better hurry.

 

[stevemind]

Some posts here make me giggle! In your eyes..what would you class as flag-shippy? More ram?better screen?..the 930 plus all the others look good to me.We can only use one phone at a time, I remember before the stupid phone started I have my 3310 for 2yrs (loved dat phone) everyone's impatient and they all want the perfect best of the best phone NOW or god help em.
Goodnight

 

[venious]

I think MS knows that it can't compete in the US yet, against the iPhone. To prevent financial failure, they then opted to go for the low end market, since there is no competition there. I'd buy a 1020 now, but I'm concerned with the upgrade shelf life and I don't want to pay 550 for a 2 year old device.

 

[MikeSo]

Hardware wise the Icon/930 and the 1520 are plenty deserving of the high-end level. They might be old by modern standards but they are fine.

 

[MrWhiteman]

Is it possible that the 1820 will be out around Christmas time?

 

[MikeSo]

True, but most (lower income) people only think about how much am I paying NOW? How much money do I have to give you to get this in my pocket NOW? These are the mostly the same people living paycheck to paycheck and simply have never been taught how to budget/save or have no idea about how much a phone actually costs. These people don't have 300-600 to drop on a phone. That said, I do believe that MS is making the correct steps. The US basically belongs to Android and Apple. Why not go to where you may a have a chance on getting a foot hold? MS' history is in the low end of the market, guess they're going back to their roots. Do I want a premium windows phone? As an owner of a 8x that's still on Tmobile, absolutely. But knowing that the best selling windows phone was the 52x line says a lot.

Microsoft bought Nokia, which as a brand is worth slightly more than zero in the US, where they might as well have not even existed for years before the Lumia 900. And then they rebrand it and get rid of the Nokia name.... Losing the value the brand still had outside the US. It'll be interesting to see if even the low end segment of the market can be theirs with decisions like that.

 

[MikeSo]

Here is the article about the comments from the president of Alcatel about there being no market for high end MS phones and all the opportunity being on the low end.

The future of Windows Phone? At the low end, says Alcatel | Technology | theguardian.com

The future of Alcatel maybe. I had no idea they even existed.

 

[MikeSo]

Is it possible that the 1820 will be out around Christmas time?

The what? Isn't that the device that less discernible sites claimed would be released last winter, and that there is no trace of anywhere?

 

[aikidaves]

Microsoft bought Nokia, which as a brand is worth slightly more than zero in the US, where they might as well have not even existed for years before the Lumia 900. And then they rebrand it and get rid of the Nokia name.... Losing the value the brand still had outside the US. It'll be interesting to see if even the low end segment of the market can be theirs with decisions like that.

No, Microsoft did NOT buy Nokia. They bought PART of Nokia, but Nokia itself is still a separate company. That company allowed Microsoft to license its name for a limited period of time. Microsoft must stop using the name at the end of that time, so they're working to a plan to replace the brand. Short of pursuing a hostile takeover of the rest of Nokia or making an offer that Nokia can't refuse, it's something they have to do.

 

[awilliams1701]

Personally I think the 930/1520 are fairly high end. True they aren't sporting 805 processors, but I don't think the 805 is much of an upgrade. Currently the 800 is "good enough for now". The nice thing about the low end phones is that you can buy them off contract and as a result get a discount on some carriers (such as AT&T) or not pay extra to pay for the phone (T-Mobile). I think even Verizon has something like that now. For your average McDonalds employee this is more realistic with a $50 520 than a $500 1520.

 

[LumiaIcon]

Personally I think the 930/1520 are fairly high end. True they aren't sporting 805 processors, but I don't think the 805 is much of an upgrade. Currently the 800 is "good enough for now".

I agree, I don't think Microsoft needs to beef up the specs too much, the problem is that the 1520 is beyond the CONSUMERS acceptable timetable. It should have been refreshed by now. The U.S. consumer market has an insatiable appetite for something NEW and expects something yearly. However, it is clear to me the handset would benefit from Gorilla Glass 3 and perhaps a small tweak in the footprint of the phone as well as an 801 processor. Microsoft is missing the "trade cycle" and because of that they are never in the news and the platform continues to pump out "mid range" or "low end" phones. When you do that enough it sticks.