What if there won't be any windows mobile devices?

[gold-stars]

MS isn't giving up but whatever comes out in the future will be a device that facilitates "content production" not "content consumption" so phone/laptop hybrids if they can make it work as MS re-trenches around the PC.

It will not be a contender in any meaningful way to Android or Apple phones which are the primary content consumption platforms.

Of course the problem is the Windows Store doesn't yet reflect this and still reflects the old mobile strategy so MS needs to a smack to the head with a clue by four into getting professional software onto the Windows Store.

On top of that MS will continue to shoot itself in the foot, guessing right what it should be doing but typically fumbling the execution.

 

[tgp]

I think that you are underestimating the Massively Screwed-up dis-Functional Team (MSFT).

That's harsh! But it has some validity if watered down. My employer is a Microsoft MVP. He is invited to the Redmond once or twice a year. He once said that if we would see the lack of cohesiveness on campus, we would be surprised that they can produce anything at all! However, there is probably some of that in any large corporation.

 

[Williaml99]

Great Thread

I have simple tastes. Been using MS smart phones since 2002. When it leaked out about the 950XL and 950, I thought great specs and removable battery. I thought could not ask for more. Remember I said I had simple tastes. I had to wait about a year before AT&T came to my area so I could jump from Verizon to have these two phones for my wife and I. We run the production OS. I am happy with the XL my wife just OK with her 950. I am concerned about something being available before we have to jump to another platform. I probably should get my wife an iPhone as I think she would be very happy. We are invested in one drive. She does think the camera on our phones are awesome and important to her so the HP is probably too big and camera not good enough.

My wife’s friends and family thinks her 950 is cool. She explains it is a little more like a computer than the typical phone. I have been in tech for 35 years and I like the idea now of the windows phone being more like a PC. I would like to be able to install Chrome or at least stream XM radio or MLB.TV from the browser.

As has been said on this site if MS came out with a phone that was basically on par hardware wise with the best out there it probably would get no traction and I believe that. For me I would love it because I really do not want to leave the windows platform. I think the continuum, Cshell and UWP is exiting.

What if there won't be any windows mobile devices? Well, not much choice then when the current crop of hardware is not practical to use it is Android or Apple. I truly hope not to do that.

Thanks for the friendly discussion.

 

[Julian Barker]

You are one hundred percent correct. No new windows Mobile phones will come out but windows on (super smooth & stable) ARM is coming and CShell will make windows on ARM be a desktop, a laptop, a tablet and a phone in one device.

MSoft can't compete in the mobile space alone but by bridging the genres they can reverse back into it without anyone ever noticing. Let's not forget that Windows 10 mobile is actually a pretty great mobile OS and with the recent and current developments occurring with Windows 10 dtop (Fluent design, people app ) It's going to leap forwards. (catch back up with Ios and Android mobile OSs.

The king (his cousin) is dead, long live the king ( his cousin)

Personally I'd like to see MSoft review the usage logs of windows 10 mobile and provide any regular user a free upgrade to a genre defining device. Thank you Microsoft.

I recall how Windows RT went out with a whimper.... Don't expect MSoft to say anything.

 

[Alex Zapata]

This is something I've pondered for a while. Guess we'll just have to find out!!!

 

[xFalk]

I would prefer to sit in the back of my closet, cradling my almost antique 822, rocking back and forth in utter denial than thinking that we will never see another Windows phone.

 

[Drael646464]

Andromeda keeps popping up in your replies, what is it exactly?




But what will that next category look like? Similar but different or vastly different?




Say what? I'm not losing hope, just imagining a what if scenario - I usually do that in my free time




One would think that with 500 million (and counting) W10 users worldwide, there would be more UWP apps then there are right now - again, marketing plays a hand here as developers need to feel the pull and consumers need to give the push through their demand -you can't demand something that you don't know about

Some of the big names are making the UWP idea harder to push though- such as Google - their apps are conspicuously missing and that creates a mindset with other developers that the UWP idea isn't ready or that the MS store ecosystem isn't worth developing for - never mind that that Google and MS have had some friction



Not always, some of the Nokia devices were quite ahead when they released, like the 41MP camera sensor, or the widest selfie camera (at the time) or sensorcore for fitness tracking and various functions relating to movement - or even continuum which you have to admit was new




One can argue that there are more devices like Hololens and IoT - but then again, these are niche cases and very few would actually target UWP just for the sake of IoT - unless my understanding of IoT is off?




To put it in a different perspective - the best and fastest hardware is only needed if you're running really intensive tasks, which begs the question why your tasks aren't efficient? If an android phone with 2GB RAM cannot perform better than a windows phone with 1GB RAM, do we criticise the hardware or the OS that uses the hardware?

Andromeda is an upcoming Windows sku. Its been found a few places in current Windows code. Its referenced next to Windows home, pro, Windows Mobile as having its own cshell variant, and also features a 'hinge angle' value and two separate sets of gyros. So I believe it's not only hardware too, but the ' new hardware and branch of Windows 10 mobile' insider leaks in several places recently have been talking about. Specifically I think it's a dual even detachable clamshell , a sort of predecessor to true folding graphene tablets

 

[Albert Sharp]

C'mon now, how can you say you're a fan if you don't know the answer to this. Of course windows 10 mobile is dead. but if you haven't been paying attention. full windows 10 is coming to mobile which means you will likely be able to use cshell to "look like a phone" then turn around flip the phone open and download a app like bluestacks and run android apps all you want. Sooo, there it is....., now what would really be amazing is if Microsoft built its own android emulation software to work specifically for windows 10 and cshell and allowed the devs of those apps to add their android apps to the windows store. I think MS will probably add something like Windows 10 S to the phones and give the option to upgrade to windows home for something like $19.99 so that you can download bluestacks onto your phone and run android apps. IJS

 

[chataddicted]

Over the year ms failed in several segment that is in marketing strategy, great hardware and OS evolution. I think they have already done with this buggy win 10 mob os. Just like in 2010 they did with win mob os. And in 12 win 7.8. Now they need a fresh start. Make a fresh os. Fresh team. Fresh hardware. Start every thing fresh again.

 

[Allan Breum]

They all will. The thing is when you already have a following (Apple, Google) it's easier to sell something new. That's the issue MS is up against. Trust.

Honestly, I think (and hope) that if MSFT come out with something new and innovative that uses win10, almost all the mobile users they have lost to Android and iOs will return.
Win10m is still the best mobile OS i have ever used.

But, they need to get the major app-developers to port their stuff (bribe them, extort them, or whatever), or people will say 'hmm, nice tech-demo' and just go about their lives.

 

[gnomagico]

Even if completely unrealistic, because it's so cheap to make a W10 smartphone (it's only a matter of deploying an already made software) at least from an OEM (even more from a Chinese one), the answer to the question is quite simple, I'll buy an Android device.
Luckily this is not gonna happen, new WoA devices will be ready for Xmas 2017, I'll wait for prices to calm down and bugs to be fixed and probably buy in May 2018, with my 950 lasting 2 years and still an up to date device, I'll give it to one of my family members.

 

[chenryhen]

If there really is no forthcoming mobile offering with Win10, I'd be sad, but I would probably end up just getting an iPhone. Since I already have an iPad, at least I wouldn't have to re-buy apps on Android that way.

 

[AndyCalling]

Personally, I'll just dump the idea of a smart phone and use my Lumia phone(s) in dumb mode to provide internet to my 8 inch windows tablet. I was considering doing that rather than getting the L950XL, but it's so good I couldn't help myself.

Let's ask another question though, what if MS and partners DO make another phone running Windows as all indicators suggest? With all the current talk about new devices reaching fever pitch, by the time my 950XL is two years old in Q1 2019 I fully expect an upgrade option to be out of early adopter premium price range by then. Can't wait to see what comes out this year ready for that day. Who else is getting hyped by all the C-shell development we're hearing about?

 

[anon(20964)]

I just bought my first Windows 10 phone. It's the HP Elite X3. The phone and OS are top notch. This is my first Windows phone in many years. The state of Microsoft's mobile offerings doesn't look so good right now and I'm not quite sure why. In my opinion, the HP Elite X3 which is a year old now - actually rivals any of the other makers devices recently released or projected to be released this year. The major difference is commitment to the mobile phone sector and of course APPS. Apparently, Google and Apple view mobile phones as an important segment in their integrated platforms.

I for one, certainly hope Microsoft can get it together on the Mobile phone front - I liked the Lumia 1520 with Windows 8 mobile many years ago, and I'm really liking the HP Elite X3 with Windows 10 Phone now. Works very well with my Surface Pro. Come-on Microsoft let's get this mobile phone offering back to where it should be. I'm an electrical engineer in RF, contact me I may be able to assist or even lead the charge.

 

[anon(50597)]

Honestly, I think (and hope) that if MSFT come out with something new and innovative that uses win10, almost all the mobile users they have lost to Android and iOs will return.
Win10m is still the best mobile OS i have ever used.

But, they need to get the major app-developers to port their stuff (bribe them, extort them, or whatever), or people will say 'hmm, nice tech-demo' and just go about their lives.

Its going to be interesting to see what happens. I'm not extremely optimistic people will just leave an ecosystem they are comfortable with to jump back to Windows. As you stated, they need to have things people want, and that's easier said then done. I think that might take years and, therefore, we'll initially see just current users, businesses, and people who like to try new things and have the money jump on board. Others will sit back and watch. If devs help create the ecosystem they want, others will slowly come back. In think its fantasy to think this will catapult Windows back into the mobile market, but I would love to be wrong!

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[david90531]

Been a fan, almost a ****** since WP7 days with the Samsung Focus. And even as a hardcore MS supporter I have to say the future does not look bright for WM10.. I still enjoyed using Lumia 950XL but no where was the device as exciting and stable/solid as the Lumia 920, back in the WP8 and 8.1 days. Microsoft really disappointed everybody by purchasing Nokia and did nothing substantial with it, which is a shame because I believe they could have. If Surface Phone doesn't come out by 2018, it will be even harder for them to secure hardcore WP fans like me. For the first time, I'm switching to Android for compromise, and hoping that killer specs on the OnePlus 5 will satisfy my needs since it might have better chance not lagging to death..

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

While I believe that there will be more Windows Mobile devices, the problem is when? You keep hearing all this talk about commitment and the things that are to come, but without releasing yearly devices in the meantime to back up the claims, it makes it hard to be optimistic about the future of Windows Mobile. They also need to do a better job with advertising and make their phones available on all major carriers in the U.S and Canada.

 

[JMV83]

It would be a shame and and a technological set back for me.... Cause ot's not that I love windows phone so much i want one and nothing else, I'm pleaszd with the OS and all but i could see myself jump ship if there was a SERIOUS alternative... There is simply no way, nada, zero chance I will ever buy a product from apple or running android for my personal use if I have a choice.... I do have a pro android tab... There is only the software i need for work and nothing else and i refuse to use it personally... I'd rather go back to feature phones... Might be stupid but I have my principles...

 

[Allan Breum]

With some proper marketing, most of the old users should return, especially if MSFT can get developer to adopt the UWP... or implement emulation of iOS and/or Android apps.
It will all hinge on marketing their new 'revolutionary' device well, and whether or not Nutella will mess this up as well..

 

[Michael Bromley]

If / when Skype for Business provides dedicated SMS to cellular (which I can do via Outlook using RedOxygen), there will be no need for a "cell phone," just a Win 10 device that can fit in my pocket. We're almost there already.