Today I asked myself this question and couldn't come up with an answer. So I'll ask you guys...

[TheBadGuy_88]

Why did Microsoft kill off windows phone?

Trust me, I know the history as well as anybody outside of the think tank rooms, but after seeing android integration coming to pc, after seeing the headphones, after reading the verges interview with panos, I must say, it seems like the very thing they are missing is wait for it..... A phone!

this topic has been beaten dead to a pulp, resurrected and beaten again. Repeatedly.

But my brain keeps coming back to it because it legitimately doesn't make sense to me. I can't be the only ones that feel like that. They even had android integration on windows mobile which with time And progression in chip tech would've brought it up to a usable standard.

I know we've all beaten dead to the floor but anyone care to try andake sense of a nonsensical situation. Like by now they would've for sure be a steady hand in the mobile space. There's things windows phone did well that even to this day ios and Android haven't been able to accomplish. I just don't get it.

 

[tgp]

it legitimately doesn't make sense to me.

Because it wasn't your money they were hemorrhaging. I do understand your view. I too was hoping to see it take off. But at the end of the day, Microsoft is a business that needs to make a profit. And even though we as armchair CEO's think differently, Microsoft evidently felt that the phone wasn't going to make a profit, even as a loss leader product.

 

[thanoik]

The gag apps its a problem

 

[TheBadGuy_88]

Microsoft was legitimately selling MILLIONS of devices globally. Am I wrong about that? Xbox it's first few years lost billions but it's not a cash cow. Trust me nobody was losing paycheck money at Microsoft during the windows phone Era. They made enough off of Android royalties to more than cover initial investment cost. What has happened with the lack of a mobile device is that it makes it almost impossible for a person to completely buy into Microsofts ecosystem because they a missing the main part. Mobile.

 

[fatclue_98]

I don't know how much more this poor old horse can take.

 

[beman39]

Microsoft was legitimately selling MILLIONS of devices globally. Am I wrong about that? Xbox it's first few years lost billions but it's not a cash cow. Trust me nobody was losing paycheck money at Microsoft during the windows phone Era. They made enough off of Android royalties to more than cover initial investment cost. What has happened with the lack of a mobile device is that it makes it almost impossible for a person to completely buy into Microsofts ecosystem because they a missing the main part. Mobile.

you have a totally valid point, had MSFT abandoned Xbox like it did with Windows Mobile they would've lost a BUTT load of money, but look now how its a cash cow because they kept up with it and stuck it out! I think if MSFT would have made different LOGICAL choices and not kept changing Windows Mobile (from 6.5-7-8-8.1-10) like people change their underwear and BACKED their Mobile division with normal steady incremental updates (like IOS and Android did) and kept up with it, they would be making a butt load of money with Windows Mobile just like they are doing with Xbox... and devs wouldn't have abandoned Windows Mobile. I mean C'mon! everybody is glued to their mobile devices! and that line from the ***** nudella (don't see a need for a 3rd OS device) is just retarted! no NOW because you made dumb decisions and lost all the Windows device owners and devs, that you don't see a need! duuuuhh! devs and mobile owners need/want consistency and not go forward then backwards then side step then ect ect ect... you get my point. the way I see it, if they play their cards right and really put their minds to it and THINK and get an amazing device like a fold able PHONE that is a PC also (or vice versa) and market the sh!t out of it like they did with the Surface studio (remember that awesome commercial with that touchy great song?) people WILL buy it! and I'm going to ignore all the Android and Iphone fanboys naysayers who say it wont sell! because a LOT of business and just us commercial users WILL BUY IT! just imagine a phone that can fold out into a device like the size of the surface Go! that would be spectacular!

 

[fatclue_98]

@beman39 don't get me started on the decision to abandon WinCE in favor of NT. WinMo 6.5 was a ton better than anything that replaced it. Prior to the HD2 the highest RAM available on any device was 288MB on the Touch Pro 2. That's a bad joke. Mr. Jack Daniels, please come in. I'll be with you in a minute.

 

[TheBadGuy_88]

Sorry to bring this topic up!@fatclue_98 it's just I watch these hardware events from Microsoft and it's the big gigantic elephant in the room. Like that new picture showing all the devices.. The only thing missing is a mobile device ...

To tell you the truth there's tremendous value in an ecosystem that doesn't have 100 versions of flappy bird.

After spending the last 2 Years with an iPhone 7plus I must say both android and ios are **** OSes if you remove apps I must say WINDOWS MOBILE is by far superior.

Thank you for this therapy session. I must go back to this **** mobile landscape

 

[fatclue_98]

if you remove apps I must say WINDOWS MOBILE is by far superior.

I've been saying for years that if you take an iPhone an Android and a Windows phone out of the box, the Windows phone has more built-in features - by far. The funny thing is WinMo 6.5 had even more - which led to my previous rant. Excuse me! Jack Daniels party of two?

 

[TechFreak1]

@fatclue_98 thanks for putting another of these threads to rest... peacefully bahahahaha.. go easy on the Booze.. we will need you sober for another of these threads :winktongue:... as they sure love to pop out of the wood work when no one is paying attention.

 

[nate0]

Because it wasn't your money they were hemorrhaging. I do understand your view. I too was hoping to see it take off. But at the end of the day, Microsoft is a business that needs to make a profit. And even though we as armchair CEO's think differently, Microsoft evidently felt that the phone wasn't going to make a profit, even as a loss leader product.

This is the sad and true only part of it to me that makes sense. They cut off the the part that was dying to be able to continue living on better in all other departments.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Another point that might be reasonable is the fact that the Xbox arm of Microsoft was jumping into an area of entertainment that had a pretty niche audience, as gaming wasn't as huge as it was back then as it is now. I realize that there were gamers and consoles, but at that time, not everyone owned a console. Now days, everybody has multiple generations of them. MS was pumping money into gaming because it was still somewhat competitive.
The reboot of Windows Phones was a major uphill battle, as we know. It was really a no contest situation for them. They were simply too late to the party to really even compete. It just didn't make since to them to take the Xbox route and keep throwing money down the tubes because there was no real room for competition by that time.
Just my two cents.

 

[tgp]

They cut off the the part that was dying to be able to continue living on better in all other departments.

And they did the right thing. Any business worth their salt would have done the same. The sad part isn't that Microsoft cut off the part that was dying (mobile). The sad part is that mobile was dying.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Do I think MS was bleeding money on Windows Mobile? Yes. Could MS afford it? Sure. If a 3rd OS OEM wants to try to uproot Google or Apple, MS is the only viable choice, because we are at a point where it is going to take several mountain of cash to do that. MS has the monetary funds.

However, like others have said, they are a business. And businesses need profitability. I think MS would have done things differently if say the mobile division was showing an upward trend. They probably would have stuck it out a few more years to see what happened and then made another decision.

 

[beman39]

everyone keeps saying they were late to the game, when in fact they WEREN'T... FACT, Windows mobile came WAY before IOS and Android.. do people not remember? jeez.... NO, the demise of windows was not because they were late or no one wanted another mobile OS, it was because of bad decisions plain and simple. decision NOT to advertise and back WM, bad decision to keep changing WM OS's and scaring off all the devs, bad decisions to abandon WM and leave their partners like HP and others in the wind! they have a great product which is superior to android and IOS and many might not agree because they're androind /apple fanboys or some/most are unhappy that MSFT abandoned them and so jumped to the other OS's and I'm also unhappy for that fact, but I'm not gonna deny that because MSFT made several stupid decisions that I won't see the truth. if MSFT would've JUST did things right, then we wouldn't have a dead OS to live with, or live without (whatever applies to you) I truly believe that if MSFT releases an awesome product/device with 100% excitement and dedication (like Andromeda) like they do with all their Surface lines, it would be a TOTALLY different scenario! indulge my fantasy for a sec and imagine MSFT didn't abandon WM10 and they showed all the excitement and passion like they do with the Surface devices, imagine how different the HP X3 would be today? imagine HP fully supporting their X3 device like they PLANNED too before MSFT dumped WM10 and dumped them? because I read a lot of articles about the big plans HP had with their X3 device! wow you wouldn't need to imagine very hard that the X3 would be even better today! probably have by now a great camera that took pics probably as good as the L950... but I guess we'll never know now.... its a crying shame... very sad... bottom line MSFT lost interest cuzz it wasn't a cash cow from the start and so it reflected that in their actions and decisions, so everyone else lost interest and it was a bad spiral decent into oblivion of a now defunct OS.

 

[nate0]

I say let them go with it all. What are we doing by debating and arguing why they made these decisions at all? Let them go with what they are doing now which to me is amazing already. Sure sux hard that Lumias are basically no more (new ones that is), but we need to let them move forward. It aint helping any trying to want it back or prove how wrong it was. In time Microsoft may add something back to the consumer market to help ease a lot of us into the newer era of cloud tech and productivity, until then I feel we need to just wait and enjoy what legacy was left behind for now.

 

[detmek]

And they did the right thing. Any business worth their salt would have done the same. The sad part isn't that Microsoft cut off the part that was dying (mobile). The sad part is that mobile was dying.

Mobile was dieing because they didn't put any effort in it. They made 2 or 3 phones and gave up even though they said that they will make hardware if OEMs won't.
They made L640 before W10m was ready, L950/XL when W10m was ready and those phones didn't have premium filling due to design and plastic case. And they made low end 650. That's it.
You can't have universal platform apps if you have one platform. And Windows PC already have millions of desktop programs that people won't abandon for some not so functional UWP apps.
Plus, Cortana only worked in US where most people use iPhone.
So, how much they have a chance to W10m? A year? Two maybe?
And with Surface line we saw that MS can make a premium hardware. Nadela just wasn't interested in mobile and general consumer audience. Corporate is the way for him.

 

[Ryujingt3]

It died because basically Google and the iPhone killed it. This topic has been done to death. It's a shame that the platform is dead, but at least MS is still going in some form, with mobile. It just so happens that they chose to work with other mobile platforms instead as a sign that they realised they could never compete on their own.

 

[tgp]

Mobile was dieing because they didn't put any effort in it.

There are many reasons that Microsoft's mobile effort died, but lack of effort is not one of them. Microsoft pulled out all the proverbial stops. It it turned out to be a liability on the balance sheet that was never going to be an asset. It's as simple as that.

 

[fatclue_98]

Anybody here an investor? I'm not asking to be a smartass, I'd like to know if dropping mobile was ever brought up to a shareholder vote. My guess is shareholders don't give a hairy rat's a** about anything other than ROI in which case dropping the mobile division was an easy choice for the Board. Does anyone think Apple investors care about iPhones no longer having headphone jacks? If the stock prices dipped after the announcement you could bet the farm they'd still be on. Mis dos centavos.