Pocketnow: "Akihabara News reports that there was little interest"

[theefman]

Pocketnow posted an article on the Japanese launch of the first Mango handset and the statement by Akihabara news is very telling and is almost a carbon copy repeat of the original launch. Microsoft for some reason seems to have a real aversion to adverting Windows Phone and even though Japan has never been the biggest Microsoft success story I think the lack of advertising is starting to become as big a hurdle as the biased store reps.

Not sure how much longer MS wants to wait before actually telling people about its new OS and start aggressively going after ios and android marketshare but if the Japanese launch is anything to go by WP7 going to be an OS that doesnt really generate interest among average consumers. Could it end up just being another webOS, a niche OS with hardcore fans but never gaining mainstream success?

What's your take? Will the refrain now change to "wait for Apollo" when faced with questions on how WP7 is doing?

Link: Fujitsu IS12T, World's First WP7 Mango Launched By KDDI Japan

 

[Apoc]

I just don't understand why Microsoft don't really push their products(WP7) with ads all over. If it fails, it's the same reason as all the other devices, because they just don't try and push it enough. Get a few slogan's, build your ad campaign around them & make sure you make each and every release date.

 

[Averry]

In America, the problem is compounded by the fact that all of the phones they've released are getting to be a year old, meanwhile you have new android phones coming out all the time.


It's easier for carriers to sell their "new" product. I still don't think Microsoft needs the volume that Android has, but they definitely need to probably stagger their releases better and get momentum.

 

[selfcreation]

How often do you see GOOGLE adds BY Google?
How often do you see Apple ADDS by APPLE...
NEVER!

How often do you see Samsung , HTC , LG , ADDS for Android phones?
how often do you see adds from AT&T , BELL , ROGERS , ORANGE , Verizon , ect... regarding Android and Iphone??

Every day!

its like that HTC quietly Brilliant Add campaign . 100% Android! why? cause they push there Unique SENS interface ( only for driod ) so they have no advantage in pushing out wp7.

stop putting so much pressure on MS they already do more then Apple and Google in terms of advertising , its the OEMs and carriers that Don’t believe in the product hence why they dont advertise it.

Ive seen more adds by MS then any other Company. And that’s not normal … in other words its not MS`s fault . they give away phones they have adds , they have a UGE add campaign coming for Mango…

beside they never really do adds for new phones till about 2-3 weeks before launch . TOPS…

 

[1jaxstate1]

The other phones companies [Sam,htc,lg, ATT, Verizon] make tons off Android. They are not raking in the dough off WP7, thus they don't dedicate money to push it. So MS has to step in, or we wont see any WP7 adverts.

How often do you see GOOGLE adds BY Google?
How often do you see Apple ADDS by APPLE...
NEVER!

How often do you see Samsung , HTC , LG , ADDS for Android phones?
how often do you see adds from AT&T , BELL , ROGERS , ORANGE , Verizon , ect... regarding Android and Iphone??

Every day!


stop putting so much pressure on MS they already do more then Apple and Google in terms of advertising , its the OEMs and carriers that Don?t believe in the product hence why they dont advertise it.

Ive seen more adds BY ms then any other Company. And that?s not normal ? in other words its not MS`s fault . they give away phones they have adds , they have a UGE add campaign coming for Mango?

beside they never really do adds for new phones till about 2-3 weeks before launch . TOPS?

 

[Averry]

How often do you see GOOGLE adds BY Google?
How often do you see Apple ADDS by APPLE...
NEVER!

How often do you see Samsung , HTC , LG , ADDS for Android phones?
how often do you see adds from AT&T , BELL , ROGERS , ORANGE , Verizon , ect... regarding Android and Iphone??

Every day!


stop putting so much pressure on MS they already do more then Apple and Google in terms of advertising , its the OEMs and carriers that Don?t believe in the product hence why they dont advertise it.

Ive seen more adds by MS then any other Company. And that?s not normal ? in other words its not MS`s fault . they give away phones they have adds , they have a UGE add campaign coming for Mango?

beside they never really do adds for new phones till about 2-3 weeks before launch . TOPS?

Well..wait.......no Google doesn't do their own advertising. But I can assure you that all of the iPhone ads are direct from Apple or Apple has their hands deep deep in the process of the ads. Just because theirs a slight tag of "Verizon" or "AT&T" at the end does not absolve Apple from the process. Apple spends alot.

The carriers wont' bother to throw their money at Windows Phone until they feel that there is a reason to. Microsoft needs to pull Windows Phone up by their own bootstraps if they eventually want carriers to start pushing it on their own. Microsoft needs to tip the scales in their favor and light the fires.

 

[selfcreation]

The other phones companies [Sam,htc,lg, ATT, Verizon] make tons off Android. They are not raking in the dough off WP7, thus they don't dedicate money to push it. So MS has to step in, or we wont see any WP7 adverts.

yeah but thats not MS is fault. i agree they need to do more .

but people dont relies they already do more then Appel and google combined.

Well..wait.......no Google doesn't do their own advertising. But I can assure you that all of the iPhone ads are direct from Apple or Apple has their hands deep deep in the process of the ads. Just because theirs a slight tag of "Verizon" or "AT&T" at the end does not absolve Apple from the process. Apple spends alot.

The carriers wont' bother to throw their money at Windows Phone until they feel that there is a reason to. Microsoft needs to pull Windows Phone up by their own bootstraps if they eventually want carriers to start pushing it on their own. Microsoft needs to tip the scales in their favor and light the fires.

i agree that apple does do SOME adds but you need to Look at it this way..

Apple makes adds for Iphone + Ipad....

MS adds for = wp7 + Windows 7 + Xbox they have more to spend then Apple for less. and OEMS are not helping them cause its not worth it .

Also Apples gets allot of Free adds in Product placement , exp: RBC bank comes otu with an Banking app for Iphone , they run that thing on TV all day , apple doesn’t pay them, if anything RBC pays apple to advertise their App and in return the phone gets free exposure.

Microsoft needs more exposure , witch they are doing by putting WP7 in Celebrity’s hands for free ,, Also giving away FREE phones to DEV to basically allow more apps to come over Hence creating more product placement like apple... and by doing this hopefully it will help. lol

Microsoft is doing allot more then they show the world.,. but what id not get is the 40 Billion$$$$ sitting in MS bank account collecting interests , they need to spend that ****.

 

[thed]

I don't know about you guys but I see Apple ads all the time.

"If you don't have an iPhone..."

Anyway, I wouldn't worry. I think the ad push is coming very soon.

 

[Donta79]

I just don't understand why Microsoft don't really push their products(WP7) with ads all over. If it fails, it's the same reason as all the other devices, because they just don't try and push it enough. Get a few slogan's, build your ad campaign around them & make sure you make each and every release date.

i love WP7 Mango but
MS is a slow azzz company, they need NEW hardware, I have been saying that for months.
If they cannot get new hardware with updated specs and LTE 4G out this year then WP7 will be dead and Microsoft would have MISSED THE BOAT because the Google ICE CREAM SANDWICH LAUNCH and the iOS LAUNCH will be massive this FALL...................

 

[theefman]

How often do you see GOOGLE adds BY Google?
How often do you see Apple ADDS by APPLE...
NEVER!

How often do you see Samsung , HTC , LG , ADDS for Android phones?
how often do you see adds from AT&T , BELL , ROGERS , ORANGE , Verizon , ect... regarding Android and Iphone??

Every day!

its like that HTC quietly Brilliant Add campaign . 100% Android! why? cause they push there Unique SENS interface ( only for driod ) so they have no advantage in pushing out wp7.

stop putting so much pressure on MS they already do more then Apple and Google in terms of advertising , its the OEMs and carriers that Don?t believe in the product hence why they dont advertise it.

Ive seen more adds by MS then any other Company. And that?s not normal ? in other words its not MS`s fault . they give away phones they have adds , they have a UGE add campaign coming for Mango?

beside they never really do adds for new phones till about 2-3 weeks before launch . TOPS?

Microsoft doesnt sell pc's but you saw tons of Windows 7 ads. And besides, why blindly copy apple and google, if they choose not to advertise thats their decision, WP7 is a new OS that needs exposure. htc and the like focus mostly on android, if MS wants WP7 to do well they should advertise and make the OS known as much as possible. Just look what they did with Kinect.

There's no excuse, last year we waited and saw a few ads that died out, here we are again near to a major release and MS is silent on courting their intended audience, the general consumer. apple and android are established, well known names in smartphones and can afford not to advertise. Microsoft and WP7 dont have that luxury.

At the end of the day, more advertising is better for the platform, not less. People buy what they know, if they dont know about WP7 they wont buy it. How many posts have been made here from people who have shown off their device to someone who has never heard or seen WP7 and they actually went out and bought a WP7 device and love it? How come its ok for us to advertise to our friends and colleagues but not MS? Why dont they tell them about it in the first place instead of making us unpaid ad salesmen?

 

[smartpatrol]

It doesn't matter whether Google or Apple advertise. What matters is that Android and iOS have all the momentum, and MS will not succeed unless they advertise like crazy.

At this point, smartphone OEMs really don't have much to gain by pushing WP7 handsets. Android is cheaper (WP7 costs about $15 per device to license), and it's selling better. The only way WP7 will make a dent in Android/iOS is if people want it, and the only way people will know they want it is by advertising.

I really, really hope Microsoft treat Mango as the "true" launch of WP7. Mango took WP7 from a "good OS" to "best mobile OS out there". WP7 has what it takes to compete with the big boys now. They need to plan a huge marketing blitz to get the word out.

 

[selfcreation]

i never said they shouldn’t add more ,,,

im saying all you people that think that MS is not doing enough and that it will lead to WP dyeing is wrong . WP will never die .. ( its already doing better then WBOS and RIM (before the announce WEBOS was dead ))

if anything Android would fall before WP specially with all the paten BS , the longer this goes the more OEMS lose cash the less its gona be worth making Android phones and witch in return should lead to more WP7 being produced by OEMs


just reapeted threads , week in and week out.

 

[theefman]

I certainly never said WP7 will die, but its obvious that awareness is lacking and where it exists its tarnished by memories of Windows Mobile and tainted by incorrect assumptions. And wallowing in single digit marketshare doesnt do the platform any favours. None of this will change if MS and their partners continue their practice of releasing phones with no publicity then somehow expecting sales to grow to challenge the incumbents. android gets the OEM's attention because it is selling, but how do they expect WP7 to sell when they keep its existence to themselves?

You might claim its a repeated thread, but now we have seen the first real Mango device launch and its status quo, no interest. That should send a message to Microsoft that something needs to be done.

 

[hes so hott]

I certainly never said WP7 will die, but its obvious that awareness is lacking and where it exists its tarnished by memories of Windows Mobile and tainted by incorrect assumptions. And wallowing in single digit marketshare doesnt do the platform any favours. None of this will change if MS and their partners continue their practice of releasing phones with no publicity then somehow expecting sales to grow to challenge the incumbents. android gets the OEM's attention because it is selling, but how do they expect WP7 to sell when they keep its existence to themselves?

You might claim its a repeated thread, but now we have seen the first real Mango device launch and its status quo, no interest. That should send a message to Microsoft that something needs to be done.

Agreed. When WP7 was released we saw commercials for it. But over the last several months I haven't seen on WP7 advert. That's on MS. You can't depend on someone else to care about you if you don't care about yourself.

MS has a history of being slow but the company has shown that when it's wants to play it'll play.

 

[nyquistjack]

Agreed. When WP7 was released we saw commercials for it. But over the last several months I haven't seen on WP7 advert. That's on MS. You can't depend on someone else to care about you if you don't care about yourself.

MS has a history of being slow but the company has shown that when it's wants to play it'll play.

This.

Couldn't agree more. I read on here that the next version (Tango I think) will focus on bringing some of the location features of Mango to handsets in other countries. That may be why they didn't push it big over there. Japan gets all the new tech first

I could be completely delusional but I have a suspicion that Microsoft is lining itself up for something big. Something about the way they've been quietly improving their services and software across the board. They may be waiting til several things are lined up before shouting to the world. Or...they could be pulling an HP...

 

[HeyCori]

When WP7 hit there were tons of ads, but I've never seen any company do year round ads for any products. Companies usually let ads die off a bit during the spring/summer and then pick them up in the fall/winter. I expect a bigger ad push when Mango is closer to being released and when MS has more phones to show off. I also expect a huge push from Nokia as well. But again, no company can advertise non-stop.

 

[Averry]

When WP7 hit there were tons of ads, but I've never seen any company do year round ads for any products. Companies usually let ads die off a bit during the spring/summer and then pick them up in the fall/winter. I expect a bigger ad push when Mango is closer to being released and when MS has more phones to show off. I also expect a huge push from Nokia as well. But again, no company can advertise non-stop.

Well, again, part of that is the fact that there's been no new phones either.

They need to sort of stagger their releases. Keep new stuff coming out all year, and have a bigger push every fall maybe. I donno. Android gets alot of momentum since a carrier/manufacturer is always pushing something new.

 

[hes so hott]

I don't know if WP7 manufacturers need to use to Android model when it comes to phone roll outs if MS is advertising on a regular basis. In the summer there aren't many new tv shows so the advertising is lighter. However, you'll see the occasional Iphone ad a couple of times throughout the week, but more Ipad 2 commercials than the phone.

 

[selfcreation]

Well, again, part of that is the fact that there's been no new phones either.

They need to sort of stagger their releases. Keep new stuff coming out all year, and have a bigger push every fall maybe. I donno. Android gets alot of momentum since a carrier/manufacturer is always pushing something new.

i think in 1 or 2 years WP will also start getting phones out all over the year...

cause right now we got 12 phones in one shot.... cause all the OEMS wanted to get it out there , as the Months and years go by the OEMS will start releasing phones at different dates. Witch will cause us to have a new phone or 2 every month , ( witch is as fast if not faster then Android )

we have 12 Phones under a year , I dunno how you can think we don’t have enough.

they just wanted to get all of them out one shot.

+ WP is a 5 year old KID compare to Iphone and Android , so saying that Android has more momentum then WP … well Obviously! LoL

Android came out with what… 2 phones when they released the first Gen?? lol



Honestly we all just need to be Patient with this. its brand new OS .. and MS is doing better the first year then most other OS ever did. ( and they had less competition when they came out )

they doing JUST FINE!!

 

[Reflexx]

Nokia is huge in Asia. (not sure about Japan specifically) But maybe when they throw in their handsets into the market it will help establish some legitimacy for Windows Phone.

But as for MS having something big up their sleeve... I think that big thing is called Windows 8.