What MSFT can learn from HP...

[simonnyc]

I've been thinking about what microsoft could learn from HP's missteps with webOS and it dawned on me. While there may still be little interest in the WP7 OS (as was the case with webOS), dirt cheap hardware will get people to give your OS a chance even when they had no prior interest. if you haven't been hiding under a rock for the past few days, check out the sales/demand for HP's Touchpad.

With mango just around the corner and new WP7 hardware expected to come out, Microsoft should do with their current WP7 phones what HP did with their touchpads. They should work with HTC, Samsung, & LG and sell off their current inventory of WP7 phones at no-contract prices of $50-100. I would think that with the poor sales WP7 is having so far, there is a lot of inventory out there. Microsoft has deep enough pockets to subsidize the phones. I think potential dividends of having more people using WP7 phones in the long run far outweigh the near term cost of subsidizing these phones.

 

[nyquistjack]

I've been thinking about what microsoft could learn from HP's missteps with webOS and it dawned on me. While there may still be little interest in the WP7 OS (as was the case with webOS), dirt cheap hardware will get people to give your OS a chance even when they had no prior interest. if you haven't been hiding under a rock for the past few days, check out the sales/demand for HP's Touchpad.

With mango just around the corner and new WP7 hardware expected to come out, Microsoft should do with their current WP7 phones what HP did with their touchpads. They should work with HTC, Samsung, & LG and sell off their current inventory of WP7 phones at no-contract prices of $50-100. I would think that with the poor sales WP7 is having so far, there is a lot of inventory out there. Microsoft has deep enough pockets to subsidize the phones. I think potential dividends of having more people using WP7 phones in the long run far outweigh the near term cost of subsidizing these phones.

I have to admit, it'd be awesome if HP really did start a trend in the tech world. "beat apple by be being dirt cheap." I would be shocked to see that kind of thinking from Microsoft, plus its not them making the handsets. They'd have to pay the handset makers and that likely isn't going to happen since they are selling their OS to them...

Here's to hoping!

 

[selfcreation]

hm,, How to drive a company into a hole! dont think MS wants to learn that. lol

givign phoens away at a cheaper price could help ... they might only lower it once the new phoens come out ( witch they always do )

and i think Nokia is working on low end WP with the hardware not being AS good as the highend ( like android does )

 

[toddos]

Tablets != phones.

Samsung Focuses have been pretty much dirt cheap for months (as little as $0.01), but people aren't snapping them up. I suspect it's the contract cost. A $100 no-contract tablet is quite a bit more attractive than a $0.01 phone that requires a $70/mo contract and possibly switching providers.

 

[smartpatrol]

I have to admit, it'd be awesome if HP really did start a trend in the tech world. "beat apple by be being dirt cheap." I would be shocked to see that kind of thinking from Microsoft, plus its not them making the handsets. They'd have to pay the handset makers and that likely isn't going to happen since they are selling their OS to them...

Here's to hoping!

Sadly, the "beat the competition by being dirt cheap" business model is exactly why HP is getting out of hardware altogether. Even though they are the world's #1 manufacturer of PCs, the profit margins are so slim that they don't want to bother.

That said, Nokia is VERY interested in going after the low-end market. Much of their smartphone sales are budget-priced Symbian phones in developing countries. There is absolutely no way they would switch to Windows Phone if it meant they would have to leave that market behind. Nokia just today announced 3 low-priced phones, and they're actually pretty nice! 1GHz CPUs, Gorilla Glass covering, IPS LCD screens, etc. So, if there's anybody who can undercut the competition but still make a quality product, it's Nokia.

 

[smartpatrol]

Tablets != phones.

Samsung Focuses have been pretty much dirt cheap for months (as little as $0.01), but people aren't snapping them up. I suspect it's the contract cost. A $100 no-contract tablet is quite a bit more attractive than a $0.01 phone that requires a $70/mo contract and possibly switching providers.

This is very true. In the USA, most people buy their smartphones subsidized with a contract. In this market budget-priced phones make no sense at all.

They make a lot more sense if you're talking pay-as-you-go plans or unlocked phones. My understanding is that unlocked smartphones are much more popular in Europe than here in the USA. Google and Nokia both had no luck whatsoever trying to sell unlocked smartphones in the US.

 

[simonnyc]

Tablets != phones.

Samsung Focuses have been pretty much dirt cheap for months (as little as $0.01), but people aren't snapping them up. I suspect it's the contract cost. A $100 no-contract tablet is quite a bit more attractive than a $0.01 phone that requires a $70/mo contract and possibly switching providers.

i'm fully aware that there are cheap wp7 phones with a new contract. If you read what i wrote, i specifically said microsoft should sell no-contract 1st gen wp7 phones for $50-100. Nobody who knows nothing about WP7 will lock themselves into a 2 yr contract with a WP7 phone but if they can pick one up for cheap, then why not give it a try?

 

[Reflexx]

The problem with such a strategy is that it would turn into something that customers would expect.

If there were decent level smartphones for sale off-contract for $100, then how would you ever get customers to later buy a similar class phone for $400?

 

[monotok]

hmmm would make peoples current phones worthless basically and if they wanted to sell them to get a later model then they would get nothing for it.
I think the best way would be promote/advertise and maybe set up lots of competitions or something to get them into peoples hands and use word of mouth

 

[Reflexx]

Yeah. Contests and competitions to give them out free may actually be better than selling them cheap.

If they give it free, then people believe that they were fortunate enough to get something of great value free.

But if they sell it cheap, it's value becomes the selling price.