Surely Microsoft know they need a plan for mobile. Surely
I think that most ex-windows phone users broadly agree that the app gap, and, latterly, the quality of hardware and general lack of support from Microsoft killed WP.
The app gap was out of thier control, but the lacklustre hardware and Microsoft losing interest...that stupidity is entirely on them.
But things could be different this time round...
1. The Surface brand is well established. The Duo may not be for everyone, but it's unique, and it's a starting point for Microsoft to refine their mobile hardware.
2. PWA's are well established. The app gap is no longer an abyss. I'm not a software guy, so this is a best guess, but I think quite a lot of travel, news, social media, banking, etc apps in the Google store are PWA's. They certainly look like enhanced websites.
3. The windows store. It ain't great, but it has stuff in it. Ex WP users will remember the great Snapchat calamity, when they refused to build an app for windows phone. Well, it's in the store now. I'm not a user myself, but it's there.
4. Games. Microsoft have been hoovering up game developers, and there's talk of creating a mobile gaming store and a handheld xbox device. Surely there's space in all of that to develop a mobile strategy?
5. Windows on Arm. If the tech journalists are to be believed, WoA has reached its defining moment.
So what could go wrong? I think it's the wetware... The people at the top. For all the positive steps Microsoft have made, and all the potential they have, the people at the top are the same ones who bailed on WP less than a year after saying they were all in on it.