Was WP7 a strategic move after all?

[rockstarzzz]

This is indeed interesting post I've read today.
Why Windows Phone 7 was meant to be. #WindowsPhone7 ? #WindowsphoneAwesomeness

My favourite part is -

"Now that they have people talking about it, Nokia has got grips of marketing. They have entered more markets than what WM could have ever achieved, it is show time for them. WP8 is what we should have had 2 years ago, in 2010. But it comes in 2012 because it isn?t just WP8 that they worked on. They never intended to launch a phone. They intended to launch an ecosystem."

I think if the bigger picture was indeed an ecosystem like described in that blog, then it so makes sense to expect so much from WP8, not as a consumer but also for MSFT as a business.

 

[speedfreak228]

I agree with the article. They have something big with wp8 if they can just deliver it.

 

[rockstarzzz]

I agree with the article. They have something big with wp8 if they can just deliver it.

They have delivered well with Outlook and Microsoft account so far. So if that is all part of a plan acc to the article then I see that trend going further!

 

[HeyCori]

One of the great things about Microsoft is that they're always making strategic moves. However, I don't think WP7 was just about strategy. I think a few facts hit MS that they could no longer avoid.

-WinMo 6.5 had features/apps but the OS couldn't fight a longterm battle against iOS and Android

-Windows 8 wasn't even close to ready

-They couldn't wait 2+ years while Apple, Google, and (at the time) RIM/Symbian gobbled up the market

I think that's why WP launched without things like copy/paste, because MS knew they had to start laying some train tracks immediately. Now, I think if WP7 was a resounding success then the 7.8/8 situation might of turned out differently. Perhaps MS would have spent more time upgrading 1st and 2nd gen devices to WP8. Yet, sales aren't good and MS probably figured it wasn't worth the resources. Chances are they probably made the right call because the WP8 announcement had little affect on Lumia sales. The internet e-raged. The rest of the world went "meh."

 

[rockstarzzz]

One of the great things about Microsoft is that they're always making strategic moves. However, I don't think WP7 was just about strategy. I think a few facts hit MS that they could no longer avoid.

-WinMo 6.5 had features/apps but the OS couldn't fight a longterm battle against iOS and Android

-Windows 8 wasn't even close to ready

-They couldn't wait 2+ years while Apple, Google, and (at the time) RIM/Symbian gobbled up the market

I think that's why WP launched without things like copy/paste, because MS knew they had to start laying some train tracks immediately. Now, I think if WP7 was a resounding success then the 7.8/8 situation might of turned out differently. Perhaps MS would have spent more time upgrading 1st and 2nd gen devices to WP8. Yet, sales aren't good and MS probably figured it wasn't worth the resources. Chances are they probably made the right call because the WP8 announcement had little affect on Lumia sales. The internet e-raged. The rest of the world went "meh."

You just repeated the post I quoted in this thread! The post talks about exact same things and hence WP7 looks a lot like strategy where they still are in the game but not a competition, just participating. But they compete with a lot more strength of an ecosystem which Apple and Google both lack and won't have.

 

[eric12341]

Yea something big is definitely going to happen. MS has an upper hand that apple and google do not. Especially with the interoperability between Xbox,WP and W8 games that are Xbox live enabled.

 

[rockstarzzz]

Yea something big is definitely going to happen. MS has an upper hand that apple and google do not. Especially with the interoperability between Xbox,WP and W8 games that are Xbox live enabled.

It won't be just games right, even the apps like Skype are supposed to be "leave chat on WP, continue on your XBOX" scenarios

 

[a5cent]

Thank you rockstarzzz.

I think the author of that post got almost everything right. A few extras some of you may find interesting:

> Joe said that WP8 Kernel was being worked on even before the launch of WP7

One could argue that this effort started way back during the development of Windows Vista. At that time a major push was undertaken to restructure the Windows Kernel, slimming it down and splitting it into independent parts. Much of that was "just" a gigantic clean-up effort, but it also ended up making the Windows Kernel a better match for low-power hardware... Windows Vista ended up failing, partly due to these huge re-engineering efforts which led to incompatibilities, but it was one of the most essential steps in getting Microsoft to the point where they are today, allowing them to run Windows8 on ARM devices and even on our phones.

> Believe it or not, we were all a part of a small beta test and a marketing project at the end of the day.

Well, calling it a stop-gap measure would be more accurate. Microsoft always knew where they wanted to go, they just couldn't do it all by 2010 and needed to get something out before actually being ready. At least, beta-testing wasn't WP7's main focus.

> They devoted all their resources to WP8 and making that kernel fit the whole ecosystem while a handful made WP7 pretty and workable.

I don't know how many more people worked on WP8 at that time (or even if this is actually true), but saying that only a handful of people made WP7 workable is somewhat misleading... unless you consider hundreds of people only a handful.

I also think something big is happening... not just with WP, but with all of Microsoft. It seams as if, for the first time in a long time, Microsoft is acting like a single company instead of a thousand walled in gardens.

OS features are important, but I think having access to exclusive, well known AAA titles (games and apps) will be the defining factor. I'm sure Microsoft knows this. I don't know exactly when, but Microsoft and Nokia will rise again... Nokia almost literally from the ashes of Symbian.

 

[jmshub]

I've been getting beat up by my iphone friend at work how Windows Phone is done...MSFT realizes that their OS is a failure and rebooting the franchise "quicker than superhero movies"

I have been listening to Windows Weekly for several years and remember Paul Thurrott discussing how WP7 was a stepping stone to WP8. This was being said before the launch of WP7! So yes, this is Microsoft strategy in play. WP7 was part of the longer game since WM6x was still a thing.

Gotta hand it to MSFT, over two years later, after all the improvements of Android and iPhone, their plan is two months from fruition. I love WP7 and I am excited to see WP8.

 

[GoodThings2Life]

Yeah, absolutely it was necessary, and it goes a step beyond just the technology timing. Microsoft as an wide-reaching ecosystem can't just up and change everything on a dime... not because they're a big company that moves slow, but because sudden changes anger people. Nobody likes big, unexpected changes. They have gradually exposed users to this UI-formerly-known-as-Metro concept, and as they've received feedback, they've adapted it to the requests people are asking about... and we see that in WP8 UI.

Now people are being exposed to it in a big way, and we see the tech press voicing the concern I just raised-- it's a BIG change, and so it's scary. However, most of them aren't explaining that you can totally ignore the UI-formerly-known-as-Metro if you don't like it. Stay in the desktop mode, it works just fine, and it's still better.

So Microsoft is being very, very smart about it. Moving forward without compromising... just like they claim.

 

[TrophyNostalgia]

The Evolution of Windows...

I feel the article had many things spot on. I wouldn't say that Windows Phone 7 was a negligent entry, but Microsoft realized if they were going to have any traction in the smartphone market, it had to be as soon as possible.

Microsoft has put all their energy behind their emerging "uniform" ecosystem. Windows Phone 8 is tied in with the PC OS and Xbox ecosystem. It will all succeed together or ultimately die off one by one and have to be completely reformed. But I think Microsoft got it right this time. They just need time to convince everyone else how great their "uniform" ecosystem can be and help people to adjust to the changes.

 

[MrBurrrns]

I feel the article had many things spot on. I wouldn't say that Windows Phone 7 was a negligent entry, but Microsoft realized if they were going to have any traction in the smartphone market, it had to be as soon as possible.

Microsoft has put all their energy behind their emerging "uniform" ecosystem. Windows Phone 8 is tied in with the PC OS and Xbox ecosystem. It will all succeed together or ultimately die off one by one and have to be completely reformed. But I think Microsoft got it right this time. They just need time to convince everyone else how great their "uniform" ecosystem can be and help people to adjust to the changes.

Nothing wrong with the content, it's just that you keep posting in purple for some reason and this really is not myspace... So, please don't.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Nothing wrong with the content, it's just that you keep posting in purple for some reason and this really is not myspace... So, please don't.

I would say that it's fine. I personally think having your own style is better. Even though I type uniformly on my clan's forums, but then again I set them up, so it's set up in my colours anyway haha.

Now, going back to the topic at hand, I would say that it was a strategic move. Think about it, they've brought out this epic new design language. Ex-Metro (as I'm now gonna call it) isn't just about the user interface, it's about the whole set of standards behind Windows Phone + Xbox, and now Windows 8. Yes, it feels like we BETA tested, but if you think about it that way, we're always BETA testing no matter what phone we get. As after all, new features come out and old phones get left behind as a result.

 

[aubreyq]

Completely agree with the article. When the details about WP8 came out, and specifically when it was announced that current gen hardware could not be upgraded to WP8, I knew that WP7 was just a stopgap. In a way I felt like we were all part of a beta test of sorts and imagined Steve Ballmer rubbing his hands with an evil laugh BWAHAHAHAHA!!