The Windows Phone 8.1 update sounds fantastic, but is it too little late?

[rodan01]

The momentum of 8.0 ended in q2-2013, since then sales to end users are stable, but the smartphone market is growing, so in relative terms WP is falling.
I think sales in q1-2014 are going to be awful, 6-7m, maybe less.

The acquisition of the Nokia assets is killing WP. Nokia doesn't have any reason to push the platform, they are cutting cost, saving money. How can be that in 2014 there isn't a 5-inch device? They are going to launch the Icon but so late and only in one carrier in the US. They are using the Nokia X to prepare the way for their Android-wearables, that level of media attention should be in a Lumia flagship phone.
What is the Nokia's answer to the Moto G which is killing the Lumia line in emerging markets? The Lumia 720 is 40% more expensive with much lower specs!!

I hope WP could resist until the acquisition is completed and WP 8.1 is launched.

WP 8.1 is a great update, I hope MS is holding a couple of things for the announcement. A refresh of the UI would be really good to motivate people to look again and see how much WP has improved.

 

[tardismatrix22]

We came this far, and we will go farther. Google has lost control of Android, and apple has run out of ideas. We can catch up, and 8.1 is the second step to doing that.

 

[sd4f]

We came this far, and we will go farther. Google has lost control of Android, and apple has run out of ideas. We can catch up, and 8.1 is the second step to doing that.

I don't think they have. With each update, Android is becoming less and less open, to the point that now, it's just like iOS and WP8. If you tried to run the open source version of android, it would be very light on features.

Google have even made sure that the manufacturers of android phones won't make anything other than google reliant android phones.

How this effects microsoft, I'm not sure, but google probably have gotten a big fright that they have such large market share, while not really captilising on it.

 

[Wp8 lvr]

Guys go to below Ms uservoice site and vote for Quick settings for mobile(cellular) data on/off slot.
because Quick settings r coming but mobile data toggle is missing.. it is missing in wp8.1 update..
according to sdk leak..

so please vote as much as possible Before wp8.1 launch.
fast

Mobile Data On/Off Option to Quick Settings! – Feature Suggestions for Windows Phone

 

[Squachy]

All the features just make it feature parity with ios and android. That would mean only the app situation and the OS itself would make it the defining factor. Is it too little too late? Only if they expect it to get them to like 25% share in the next year. If they're in it for the long haul (upgradeable to WP9 and beyond hopefully ) then it will be fine, just more growing pains. Remember they have the entire Win8 ecosystem which they're combining together, so theres going to be lots of nagging issues until its all converged at the end. MS also has many other sources of revenue that they can piggy back off of until their mobile strategy gets going. This one is more of a long term vision vs short term gain situation.

For blackberry, BB10 was too little too late. It was like 3 years late, and a lot of people who switched FROM blackberry did not want to go back. Plus they had to peddle their outdated wares (like the BB Bold 9900 or so) for extended periods of time just so they had something they could possibly sell before BB10 was ready for market.

And if it WP8.1 is too little too late, then theres absolutely no chance Ubuntu, Firefox, or even Jolla would get anywhere.

 

[stalemate1]

The rumoured features for Windows Phone 8.1 has got me excited for the platform. But there is a nagging feeling that it may be too little too late. After 3 years in the market place, it has only managed a paltry 3% market share. Android, love it or loath it has become the default choice for tablets and smart phones. It has in fact become bigger than Google itself in that they themselves have lost control of the OS and are trying to rein it in. As for the future of Windows on phones & tablets, I'm not sure where it will be heading. Somehow, I feel whatever changes and features are announced at Build, the market gap has widened so much that Windows Phone will never be able to catch up. It maybe the case of closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted. I'm a WP fan and love the OS, but in all honesty what do you really think? Are you as optimistic as when you first bought into the platform?

Indeed but do you know how long it took for Android to get its market share ? When it officially released in 2008 running on the HTC G1 it struggled, hardly anyone knew of its existence. Wait at least another 3 years and then you can say if its too little too late or success...but nevertheless even now people are still buying wp devices.

A question for you: why must something have a big part of market share to be successful, just look at Subaru or bughati: both have very little market share and they Easley compete with the products of their competitors that have the biggest majority of the market share. As I said before, many people are buying Windows phone so if you are worried if wp will run at a los and cease to exist then you are very wrong, (no offense to bb fans) but even bb is still selling at a very healthy point, the company is profitable and stable and yet they easley have the most inferior products on the market yet they still have healthy sales even without bbm or bis as marketing cards.

3% market share may not sound like a lot but 3% of 802 000 000 is a lot, massive profit is still made at this point. ( 2406000 if your wondering)

Also take into account how many manufacturers make up Androids market share.

Success to me is making a healthy profit and wp is doing just that.

Also wp is great, from a personal user point of view the product is solid, so both company and product are a success in my book.

 

[stalemate1]

Remember, popularity means nothing.

Just look at the Nobile prize Obama got for just helping in an organization. The person who came "second" risked her life smuggling Jews out of Nazi Germany and was tortured, she had the top of her entire finger nails pulled off, and you know how painful it is already when you cut to much of a nail off so you could imagine.

Thus goes the saying, the greatest heroes are the ones who no one will ever know. (as their great sacrifice was not done for popularity)

Just like the richest people on this planet, they don't let the world know about their wealth. Not everyone with hundreds of thousands of billions live highly exclusive life styles.

POPULARITY MEANS NOTHING!!!

 

[bilzkh]

Indeed but do you know how long it took for Android to get its market share ? When it officially released in 2008 running on the HTC G1 it struggled, hardly anyone knew of its existence. Wait at least another 3 years and then you can say if its too little too late or success...but nevertheless even now people are still buying wp devices.

A question for you: why must something have a big part of market share to be successful, just look at Subaru or bughati: both have very little market share and they Easley compete with the products of their competitors that have the biggest majority of the market share. As I said before, many people are buying Windows phone so if you are worried if wp will run at a los and cease to exist then you are very wrong, (no offense to bb fans) but even bb is still selling at a very healthy point, the company is profitable and stable and yet they easley have the most inferior products on the market yet they still have healthy sales even without bbm or bis as marketing cards.

3% market share may not sound like a lot but 3% of 802 000 000 is a lot, massive profit is still made at this point. ( 2406000 if your wondering)

Also take into account how many manufacturers make up Androids market share.

Success to me is making a healthy profit and wp is doing just that.

Also wp is great, from a personal user point of view the product is solid, so both company and product are a success in my book.

Exactly.

If I may add, I think moving forward we will see Windows Phone evolve much more quickly than in past years. Terry Myerson and the Windows Phone team are in charge of OS development at Microsoft. In other words, they're the ones setting priorities and defining objectives in a core organ of Microsoft. Moreover, they have access to more resources. If people want to see some exciting shifts in mobile (e.g. the idea of a WP + RT merge, Cortana, how cloud can/will power certain things, etc), Windows Phone will be the place to see and experience it. Just browse through the WP Lovers page on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/wplvrs), there's *a lot* of stuff coming our way with Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[Jakob Deleuran]

It's waaayy too late! but it will be great when the update comes out! really looking forward to everything in the update. It would be nice if they soon would get their *** woopin and make the update official. Just hoping it will support the Lumia 920.

Lumia 920

 

[immyperez]

Microsoft appear to losing ground with the Xbox One too...wasn't that one of their crown jewels?

 

[Paedin]

I actually think OS would be better off pushing monthly small updates. Adding features as they design them. Rather than doing 1 massive update. Have consistent updates adding features would keep the platform going forward and build momentum. Especially if microsoft could push the updates themselves and not wait for the carriers to approve them. Tmobile is now over 1 month behind pushing the black update. SMH.

 

[quotethepigeon]

For the last week or two I've been in the "its too late" camp but after actually seeing what's to come just excites me with every new leaked image or video. I'm doing a complete u-turn and saying its not too late at all! I have seen the light !

I missed may Google apps when i first converted to WP but there's alternatives and equivalents for near enough everything!

CANT WAIT FOR 8.1!!!

 

[a5cent]

I actually think OS would be better off pushing monthly small updates.

While I agree that would be better, it is not economically viable as long as MS is required to continually rework the OS' underpinnings. You can't change the internal workings of an OS and its APIs piecemeal. The OS' user facing features and all 3rd party apps rely on them to remain unchanged. That is why these things are delivered in large chunks with different version numbers.

 

[Markham Ranja]

3% market share may not sound like a lot but 3% of 802 000 000 is a lot, massive profit is still made at this point. ( 2406000 if your wondering)

Also take into account how many manufacturers make up Androids market share.

Success to me is making a healthy profit and wp is doing just that.

Also wp is great, from a personal user point of view the product is solid, so both company and product are a success in my book.

In this day and age 2.4M is peanuts. Also, nobody has ever shown anywhere that WP is profitable.

 

[Markham Ranja]

Remember, popularity means nothing.

Just look at the Nobile prize Obama got for just helping in an organization. The person who came "second" risked her life smuggling Jews out of Nazi Germany and was tortured, she had the top of her entire finger nails pulled off, and you know how painful it is already when you cut to much of a nail off so you could imagine.

Thus goes the saying, the greatest heroes are the ones who no one will ever know. (as their great sacrifice was not done for popularity)

Just like the richest people on this planet, they don't let the world know about their wealth. Not everyone with hundreds of thousands of billions live highly exclusive life styles.

POPULARITY MEANS NOTHING!!!

Your post is full of internal contradictions. You say popularity means nothing, but being popular helped Mr. Obama get the Nobel Peace Prize. I get that runner up did something much more admirable, but what did that get her?

The greatest heroes, by your theory, are also forgotten and die in obscurity.

I'm afraid that popularity is indeed everything. From a mobile platform perspective, popularity = marketshare = developer interest = apps.

 

[ipinsao]

With all the updates I got on my Lumia they never bothered to add an orientation lock, its really annoying. Hopefully they add this in the next update.

 

[James8561]

^orientation lock is already added in GDR3. it'll come to your phone eventually when your carrier release it.

 

[stalemate1]

Your post is full of internal contradictions. You say popularity means nothing, but being popular helped Mr. Obama get the Nobel Peace Prize. I get that runner up did something much more admirable, but what did that get her?

The greatest heroes, by your theory, are also forgotten and die in obscurity.

I'm afraid that popularity is indeed everything. From a mobile platform perspective, popularity = marketshare = developer interest = apps.

I was referring to your point of view that popularity equals success. Wp does not have huge popularity but regardless it is a brilliant os...popularity didn't make it great or a success, the technical teams at Microsoft and Nokia did.


Look I'm not fighting, I just think this will be a meaningful discussion

 

[stalemate1]

In this day and age 2.4M is peanuts. Also, nobody has ever shown anywhere that WP is profitable.

If it wasn't then why would Microsoft and Nokia continue to spend resources on it ?

Also consider looking at Nokia's and Microsoft's share price...notice anything ?

 

[trinkner]

Also does it really matter to you as a user about the market share of the platform.
.

Unfortunately, market share does matter to current and potential users. Smartphones are heavily dependent upon their ecosystem (apps, support from web services, integration with businesses, etc.). The WP ecosystem won't grow and be maintained unless the market share grows.

Of course, it's a Catch-22 situation. Market share drives developer and consumer interest, but market share can't be attained without developers and consumers. They'll have to grow hand in hand. Microsoft and Nokia are doing a nice job in writing apps for the platform (Nokia's updates, Microsoft's Bing apps, etc.). Hopefully, those apps and supporting services will let the platform grow such that we'll one day see third-party apps programmed equally for WP, iOS, and Android. At the moment, I cringe when I see ads for companies or media that tout only iOS and Android apps.