Can Microsoft really afford to take their time in the mobile sector which is growing exponentially?
It takes time to cook a turkey, regardless of how much you spend on an oven. External market factors are irrelevant. If you take the turkey out before it's done, it will wind up pink in the middle, and could kill your guests.
WP will never be "another idroid with a paint job" because of their (IMO) superior UI, however not having features that stop buyers in their tracks does NOT help the plaftorm. Heck, the editorial here at WPCentral about 8 things that WP needs right now speaks volumes. That editorial, on the most visited WP site, is testament that WP8 just isn't "there" yet.
I completely disagree that 3 of those 8 things (folders, notification center, Instagram) are even necessary or would be good for the platform, couldn't care less about another 3, but do agree that volume profiles and universal search would be nice... Personally, I think that if the platform doesn't offer what a user is after, the user would be SMART not to buy it.
But again, I bought a phone based on the feature set that it had, at the time. That is likely why none of the things that people talk about as "missing" bother me. I made an educated, intelligent decision on what phone I liked best based on its CURRENT feature set. I don't like Android, at all. I have an iPad, and iOS does nothing for me. I care not about how many apps a store has, because I have ones that work for me, doing exactly what I want. I would like to see a better Mileage Tracking app, but that's not a dealbreaker by any means.
When I see someone complaining about their upgrade to WP8 after seeing they owned multiple WP7 phones, and having the same issues as they have now... Well, they should have known better. I have no sympathy for that.