The Real Reason Windows Phone Has Struggled - Motley Fool

[N_LaRUE]

I completely agree with the OP in regards to the app problems not being solely about the gap but also about the update issues. I also agree with the poor displays at stores. Being in a country (UK) where WP has a fairly good share of the market the presence of MS in stores is still fairly dismal in comparison to Apple or even Samsung.

Let's not get started on the crippling of phones by carriers exclusives in the US and even here in the UK and other parts of the EU.

There is one other aspect I'd like to point out in regards to the app debate.

It's difficult to change minds of people when your OS is rarely advertised with an app. You can have all the fancy TV commercials and even great store displays, however a local service is displaying a billboard and your OS isn't displayed as having an app and people start to think something is wrong with your OS.

This is a constant thing I see. Lots of local services show iOS and Android. Rarely do you see Windows Phone. You can say that having the top apps is all that matters but that's really a small drop in the whole bucket. You can say people only use 'x' amount of apps but again it's the option of having the app or trying it. When you don't have that option you start to feel left out. That's what people don't want to feel. Which is one of the reasons why WP has such a poor take up.

In some countries WP is doing better with this problem than others. Here in the UK and EU and I'm sure in the US, this is a huge problem. As we've seen lots of banks have dropped or haven't bothered with WP. Other apps have dropped WP support as well.

It's kind of hard to change the minds of people when you cannot even keep apps you already have and can't seem to get apps that people may want.

I am hoping, though I doubt MS would simply drop WP, that W10 will start to cause a shift. However it will be a mountain to climb.

 

[Spectrum90]

To me the reason that MS has failed with Windows Phone is simple they were very late to the party, and iOS and Android were already established as the market leaders. It would be crazy for the average consumer to pick Windows Phone over the dominant platforms, it would be like choosing Beta over VHS even though VHS had the majority of the market.

At this point I think MS has just about given up on Windows Phone, with universal apps and Windows 10 for Mobile being their last attempt to get marketshare.

If the three operating system have started at the same time, in their current version, with the same app support, the market share of Windows Phone would be better, but It still would be niche.
That's evident in emerging markets. First time smartphone users choose Android over Windows Phone without knowing about the app gap. The unconventionalities of Windows Phone reinforce the idea that It's inferior or too difficult.

Microsoft's biggest mistake was developing a product without thinking in the billions of people that were supposed to use it. Apple did the opposite, the tried to develop a product as familiar and easy to understand as possible, Android just followed Apple.

 

[GCrane1982]

I agree with and have experienced the app-update gap, but the only way the situation is going to get any better for Microsoft and Windows Phone is to get more devices in more peoples hands which I'll create value for developers. Windows 10 and universal apps might assist with this by including all Windows 10 devices as a target audience for developers but its not guaranteed.

I would love to see MSFT spend $5b in a single quarter towards getting more people to use Windows Phone. This money could be spent on subsidized handsets, think aLumia 940 for under $300.00, 840 for under $200 and 640 for under $99. Put some serious money into world wide marketing and advertising and then spend money on in store displays, retail sales training and incentives. If this doesn't get people using Windows Phone nothing will.

 

[TheCudder]

Having the top 50 apps does not equate to having the apps people use on a daily basis. Those apps only represent the top world wide social and media "consumption" apps. I mentioned this before, and what WP has always missed are popular local, regional and national task and lifestyle oriented apps. Banking, credit unions, grocery store, drug stores, credit card, coupon, health/fitness and plenty more --- aside from consumption and entertainment, people also use smart phones to get things done, and for your typical user getting things done isn't always through Microsoft Office (if ever). And not everyone is a WP loyalist who is going to swap banks or <insert service > because there is no WP app when there are two other smart phone OS's that have app support.

Then there's the everlasting scenario of when the iPhone or Android owner says, "Hey download the <insert fad app> app, it's great". Only to realize there is no such app for WP --- talk about feeling left out of the fun, it's like not being picked to play at recess because you're the odd man.

Basically, your average user will realize and complain there are NO APPS long before they realize the existing apps are rarely updated or full featured.

 

[ohgood]

Windows Phone has an apps problem, only it's not the one most people think it is.

One of the more commonly cited arguments made against switching to the third-place phone OS is the lack of apps available in the Windows Phone app store. That argument appears reasonable. However, when you look at the numbers, the argument falls apart under closer scrutiny.

Yes, according to BGR.com, there were "only" 300,000 plus apps in the Windows Phone store when Microsoft made the number public last August. That's only a fraction of the one million plus offered for Apple iPhones and phones running Google'sOS.

That looks bad for Microsoft and it makes for good headlines, but you have to consider whether the difference between over 300,000 and 1 million apps actually matters when the average person uses, according to research from Nielsen, fewer than 30 apps per month.
That simple fact makes the gap between the size of the app stores less relevant if Microsoft has most of the most popular apps, which it does (as can be seen below).


All of this being said, Microsoft does have a different kind of app problem. Only instead of it being the number of apps in its store, it's the infrequency with which its apps are updated. The problem for the Windows Phone is not its lack of having 7,000 flashlight apps and a few hundred Flappy Bird knockoffs (it has plenty of each). It's that the company had the muscle to get a lot of top app providers to launch Windows Phone 8 apps but not the muscle to keep them there when the relatively tiny audience for the phones gave them little return on their investment.


The tops apps are (mostly) here
Of the top 10 apps in Apple's app store as of March 10, the Windows Phone store has Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pandora, Trivia Crack, Spring Ninja, and Google Maps. The only things missing are Apple's own iTunes U app (for obvious reasons), and Snapchat. Moving down the free list and it becomes clear that Windows Phone has nearly all the top titles. The same is generally true on the paid side where Microsoft's store has nearly all the big name apps and approximations or alternatives for the less-famous big sellers.

So, what's the problem?
Microsofthas a good selection of apps on the surface, but when you dig a little deeper you see that many companies launch a Windows app then don't update it at all. For the apps that are eventually updated, the actual update lags far behind the versions in Apple and Google's stores. Read the rest here:

good points.


with a mature platform, a decent amount of apps, and a few refreshes, it seems the only reason the platform hasn't accelerated is

it just got started too late. at this point the android and ios users have been using their mobile for years, and there is no reason to change from those established systems. could have been ios and wp, had wp been launched when android was. or wp and android. or wp and blackberry. or a contest of all four, had they woken up at the same moment and realized there was consumer market about to explode.

but, they didn't, and here we are.

there are LOTS of really good ideas for how to rectify this. i think it will take a combination of several, if not ALL of them to succeed.

 

[sanjeet_deshwal]

Microsoft should do some give aways/ provide some buy one , get one free offers to increase market share.

At least in India/Brazil/china it'll be an extremely hit !dea

 

[ajayden]

I have highlighted the top 10 free apps currently in Play Store and Windows Phone Store. You can see which list has the top 10 useful apps.


We can see that out of the top 10 apps in the play store, there are 4 apps are irrelevant to the user . In the Windows phone store all the 10 apps are relevant to all the markets.

Majority of the Play store and App Store listings are apps that are irrelevant.

An average user just needs apps that useful for daily use. Examples are Whatsapp, Telegram, Photo editing, Social media etc.

Yes there is an issue with the quality of apps but that has nothing to do with Microsoft. It is purely the developer of the app. Microsoft has provided all the tools for them to develop for the platform.

So Microsoft needs to grow their phone market share, in order to attract the developers to produce quality apps with all the features, but they know that growing the market is not done over night. That is the reason they have come out with universal apps.


Why universal apps?

The reason is simple. Google and Apple are ruling the smartphone world but they are a far second & third in the PC/Tablet world. So universal apps open up the PC/Tablet market for windows phone developers. With minimum effort they can develop for two types of devices (PC/Tablet & Windows Phone).

Microsoft & Carrier Partnership

I also think that Microsoft & Carrier partnership plays an important role in the growth of the OS. Example is the band, if Microsoft can develop deals where the carrier gets incentives for pushing good deals with Surface & windows phone combo or windows phone & band combo, the market will definitely grow.

 

[tgp]

To me the reason that MS has failed with Windows Phone is simple they were very late to the party, and iOS and Android were already established as the market leaders.

It's not accurate to use the word "failed", but I get your point, and I agree. I think the late start is the biggest problem. Microsoft used to own the mobile market with Windows Mobile, or at least they had a sizable share of it. In fact, my love for WP is what caused me to anticipate getting a Windows Phone. I remember drooling admiringly (not literally lol) over my boss' WP when it was released. He was on AT&T and was able to get one right away, but I was on Verizon and had to wait.

Had WP been released in 2008 instead of 2010, I think it would have grown right along side iOS and Android. Because Android was open source it's likely that it would still be in front today in market share, but likely a healthy percentage of Android's market share today would be WP instead. We'd probably see a more even 3 way split, rather than a 2 way which even then is lopsided.

Since we'll never know, I can make a guess that is totally accurate. At least nobody can prove me wrong!! I bet we'd see a market share of 50% Android, 30% WP, 15% iOS, and 5% other. I rounded to 5%, but it would basically take WP's market share from Android.

While the problem now also has to do with the so called "app gap", the app gap is a by product of the platform never taking off. It's a result more than a cause. Although, it probably is part of the cause now. As been said here so many times, we have the chicken and egg situation.

I've said this before, but I have to wonder what Microsoft would have done at the onset had they been able to see into the future. I highly doubt they would have gone ahead had they known that in 4 1/2 years the market share would be as low as it is. I'm sure they were expecting much more. We can even dig up tech articles from several years ago titled "By 2014 WP will overtake iPhone in Market Share" or something like that (I didn't look up any specifically). Of course, with foresight, Microsoft could have made changes at the beginning, but with my hypothetical question I'm thinking more if Microsoft had only the options of either going ahead as is or never letting it out of the gate.

I'm looking forward to the show over the next couple years!

 

[Phone Guy 4567]

If the three operating system have started at the same time, in their current version, with the same app support, the market share of Windows Phone would be better, but It still would be niche.
That's evident in emerging markets. First time smartphone users choose Android over Windows Phone without knowing about the app gap. The unconventionalities of Windows Phone reinforce the idea that It's inferior or too difficult.

Microsoft's biggest mistake was developing a product without thinking in the billions of people that were supposed to use it. Apple did the opposite, the tried to develop a product as familiar and easy to understand as possible, Android just followed Apple.

I disagree.

People in developing markets don't live in a total information vacuum, so Windows Phone's reputation has followed it into those markets. Even if they themselves don't own a smartphone chances are they know someone that does and it will most likely be an Android.

 

[Shobin Drogan]

Wait a minute, yall saying MS started late, but didn't they have Windows Mobile?
I think Windows 7 although very very fluid, just wasn't really good and was far too lacking in features for it to be a real contender.
Even WP 8.0 was lacking in features, i think 8.1 was the first one that REALLY made a difference and the only OS update that i will gladly stay on regardless of the future updates. Currently i am happy with WP8.1 and wouldnt change a thing, but this is not to say im not excited for Win10 for phones.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Windows Phone is too refined and unconventional for this filthy world.

Yes, WP is the Van Gogh of phones!

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night

You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you.

 

[Oldmajor]

There are many reasons why it has sturggled, however, the one one thing I have never heard is: What is success.
Could 7.5%, 10%, 12% be considered succesfull? If some kind of goal is never produced WP will always be behind because the narrative will always be Android dominates with 9,000% market share, Windows lags with 12%. A bias exist, as seen in the last market share reports. Apple, IIRC, has only 15% market share, yet reports say they and Google dominate the market! There is also a bias when it comes to app perception. As someone mentioned up thread many stores have apps but you never see "Available in the Windows Store" logo anywhere. I think those that take the time to display the store logo also take the time to update their app (for example NCAA March madness app list all the stores its available in on its home page)

 

[mary beth hale]

Yes, WP is the Van Gogh of phones!

Not such a good thing:'(

 

[tgp]

What is success.
Could 7.5%, 10%, 12% be considered succesfull? If some kind of goal is never produced WP will always be behind because the narrative will always be Android dominates with 9,000% market share, Windows lags with 12%. A bias exist, as seen in the last market share reports. Apple, IIRC, has only 15% market share, yet reports say they and Google dominate the market!

Android has the numbers, Apple has the profits. WP has neither.

 

[mary beth hale]

Android has the numbers, Apple has the profits. WP has neither.

Sad but true

 

[ajayden]

Sad but true

A picture speaks a thousand words. Below is the true picture.



Even though Google is top in smartphone sales, as a company its profit is below that of Apple and Microsoft, because all that google is doing is disrupting the mobile market with cheap and unstable android devices that have very less to no profit (Through their OEM or manufacture themselves).

 

[yihong kang]

The app gap is purely caused by Microsoft.
Their vision was wrong for last 10 years. They was always trying to use their dominance in PC market to help the "sale" of WP OS. Yes, they were always trying to charge people for a smartphone OS, which is an underdog in this market, until last year. Their upgrading or promotion were always too late and too little. WP7 and WP8 were better than android, but the price kept OEM away.

Another problem is whenever they decided to upgrade the OS, they stopped improving or promoting the existing one. They were always waiting for the new OS, so did the developers. That happened 3 times (WM6->WP7, WP7->WP8, WP8->WP10)!! Each time, they lost a lot of existing customers, on the other hand, the upgrading of OS was always too late and too little to win significantly more customers.

If they skipped wp7, wp8/win8, just go directly to win10, it will save a lot of time (probably will be 2013), and tell developer "we believe our vision, and will all-in our win10". Developers will follow if MS shows the effort and commitment to this OS. However, they didn't do this until now, and it is 2015. They wasted so much time, android is catching up with the fluidity and stability, ios is catching up with the features, wp have a larger-than-ever app gap, developers are losing patience. Even win10 is nice, it may not be significantly better for people to switch.

They already lost the smartphone war, like apple lost PC war. The only chance is next big thing (wearable smart devices, hybrid devices). They can only hope the next big thing will be mainstream before PC dies. Only in that situation, wp can be benefited, and become more important (like mac benefited from the success of iphone).

 

[N_LaRUE]

A picture speaks a thousand words. Below is the true picture.

Even though Google is top in smartphone sales, as a company its profit is below that of Apple and Microsoft, because all that google is doing is disrupting the mobile market with cheap and unstable android devices that have very less to no profit (Through their OEM or manufacture themselves).

You were doing fine until you made a silly statement.

Google doesn't make money on the Android OS but on apps. It only makes some devices but they are not the best just the vanilla experience.

There is nothing wrong with the Android OS not sure where you statement about it being unstable is coming from.

If you want to be technically correct, MS is disrupting the low end market by flooding it with WPs...

 

[yihong kang]

A picture speaks a thousand words. Below is the true picture.

View attachment 99883

Even though Google is top in smartphone sales, as a company its profit is below that of Apple and Microsoft, because all that google is doing is disrupting the mobile market with cheap and unstable android devices that have very less to no profit (Through their OEM or manufacture themselves).

Google is just trying to destroy Microsoft, even they will lose money on trying so (they offer free office, free OS, doesn't earn money from those). Microsoft is trying the same thing (give you money for search). If either one of them succeed, they will become the next Microsoft again (dominate the market, and start to earn easy monopoly money).

 

[ajayden]

You were doing fine until you made a silly statement.

Google doesn't make money on the Android OS but on apps. It only makes some devices but they are not the best just the vanilla experience.

There is nothing wrong with the Android OS not sure where you statement about it being unstable is coming from.

If you want to be technically correct, MS is disrupting the low end market by flooding it with WPs...

Android OS being unstable is due freezing and slowing down of devices.

As of now, Microsoft has released only 2 devices and announced 2 more but android devices is released like almost every week.

I think, a look at GSMarena will give a picture of how many android phones are released compared to windows phone.