What WP needs to succeed

[humzahyaz]

Re: Microsoft's (frustrating) Windows Phone strategy

Economics 101? Release for windows mobile, make less money? Yah that's what Economics 101 teaches you. Make less money for your company and blow billions of dollars trying to fight in an area YOU CAN'T COMPETE. Even Google was smart enough to drop Google+ after it realized it can't compete with Facebook.

What they are doing now makes sense. And it's a long-term strategy not a short term one. That's because they can't compete in the short term. They can release all the phones they want on an OS that is not finished and put all their apps on it, no developers will come because no one will buy these phones except fans.

What they are doing now is transforming their PC market to be more like a mobile market. The UI, the app store, the security enhancements. And it's being made completely modular and device agnostic. They are focusing on creating tools so that you only have to build the apps once for all devices. They are gaining market share through the use of their PC dominance which is going to trickle down through all devices. It will no longer have to be seen as "phone shares" but simply "windows 10 shares". Why? because 1 app should work on all windows devices. They are focusing more effort on the desktop for that exact reason. It will gain them market share.

Windows 10 is not finished! Not on desktop nor on mobile. Do not give me that "It will never be finished" argument. Because it will be finished with Redstone 2. They still haven't even moved over all control panel items, made a new file explorer to integrate properly and quite a lot of other stuff. It's a 2 year project. This is what Satya said. Windows 10 will take 2 years to finish. Then afterwards it will act as a service. So it will be finished at some point.

Do you really want to battle against people in an environment where your software is not even finished? No, you work on that. The desktop is easier to work with because the fact that it's not finished doesn't bother people because they are already familiar with the Desktop experience. It's also an advantage in a way because they don't have to learn something completely new right away. The new features will trickle in and it will be easier to learn once you already have a grasp on how things work. They will become more familiar with the settings app, the Start menu and action center while still being able to navigate as they always have. Once control panel is phased out they will know it's the settings app they need to go to. Everything will be much easier to navigate as the complexity is slowly being moved over to a simpler UI. In the mobile world you want consistency, you want apps! And the Desktop is what's bringing those apps. So they are doing everything in their power to try to disrupt the app gap but you don't see that. You only see it from your own perspective. Imagine how many more apps will be available by the time Redstone 2 rolls around and they launch their new devices?

Will they be successful? Who knows they have competition like Google and chromebook. But for the time being things look to be going in a positive direction. I think once they stop giving the windows 10 update out for free there will also be more hardware purchases. At this point anniversary update will be the OS being shipped and it will be in a better state. And Redstone 2 is supposed to be their pride and joy and the big one that they release more devices with and features that will be new and may create some positive media coverage.

MS likely has shown companies their plans for Redstone 2 and windows 10 in general. Many CEOs are likely under non-disclosure to keep it under wraps. But these big companies don't need MS to pay them to make apps, they are doing it because they know something. Facebook is not exactly a poor company.

There will also be a big focus on gaming which sells way beyond what apps do. Even their next cellular device may be designed to be able to let you play games. Maybe even not worry about poor touch controls through some hardware innovation and/or even APIs that do the work for devs.

The xbox will become an app. And OEMs will be able to compete in the console industry. PC's that meet minimum requirements will be able to turn into an xbox.

Anyways, don't worry about the market share. Worry about what experience your phone gives you now. If you believe a competitor gives you a better experience then seriously you don't need to stress over it just switch. You can always come back when MS has their stuff together. Keep in mind that Samsung, Apple and MS all plan big releases spring of 2017. So you will have a lot of choice. You may dislike android/ios, but you have to weigh the pros and cons. You worked hard for your money, use it wisely!

Wow dude, thank you for such an insightful message. The point that I am trying to make is that the Lumia 950/xl and 650 are top quality phones. Whoever has seen a demo of my 950 has been blown away, even friends have Samsung Galaxy 7 edge have been in awe. My wife who has had every iPhone since iPhone 3 uses my phone when she has to take pictures. My mom has used all three platforms and has found Windows to be the best. Majority of the smart phone users don't use/can't afford high-end flagship phones and the Lumia 650 is a perfect solution for them. Yet, not only the phone was not marketed AT ALL, they are now no longer available. A lot of people love its stylish design, and want to try out the synchronization with Windows 10.

Plus common people like stability. the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy are omnipresent which gives consumers the confidence in their investment. What no one likes is instability and the risk of investing in a device that may become irrelevant soon. First its nokia lumia, then its microsoft lumia and now there is no lumia. The name Lumia has been synonymous with Windows Phone and it makes little sense to completely remove them from the planet. They can develop Surface Phones for enterprises and Lumia phones could have a flagship for consumers and a budget device (like Lumia 650). If the past is anything to go by, their failure to release a flagship for almost two years after Lumia 930 did a lot of harm to them.

The point I am advocating is that it is imperative that Microsoft remains relevant in the phone market before completely becoming irrelevant in a year's time.

 

[humzahyaz]

Re: Microsoft's (frustrating) Windows Phone strategy

Plus, it is a vicious cycle. Consumers don't come because there are not any apps, majority of developers don't think its worth their salt to develop apps for a small consumer base, and major OEMs (like Samsung) don't manufacture phones with Windows. If they want WP to succeed they need to have a short term strategy AND a long term strategy, so that by the time (in the long term) they release Redstone 2, they have improved their image, perception of people and have majority apps to hit the ground running and making the device a success. Scaling back from countries where Lumias were faring relatively better, and not making them even available for purchase, is a disaster and would only hurt MS even more (in the long run).

 

[WellingtonW]

Re: Microsoft's (frustrating) Windows Phone strategy

Seriously edit the quotes.

....Whoever has seen a demo of my 950 has been blown away....have been in awe....

Awe of what exactly?

....Majority of the smart phone users don't use/can't afford high-end flagship phones and the Lumia 650 is a perfect solution for them. Yet, not only the phone was not marketed AT ALL, they are now no longer available. A lot of people love its stylish design, and want to try out the synchronization with Windows 10. .

Where I am the 650 is too expensive. It more expensive than the competition. Even if it wasn't Windows it still wouldn't sell.

You can pick up all the latest Microsoft phones in the used market, lots of 950 & 650 for sale, as users move off the platform.

Windows Phone biggest seller was always quality low to mid end cheap phones. 520, 630 etc.

The point I am advocating is that it is imperative that Microsoft remains relevant in the phone market before completely becoming irrelevant in a year's time.

Too plate. Its no longer a player.

 

[Krystianpants]

Re: Microsoft's (frustrating) Windows Phone strategy

Wow dude, thank you for such an insightful message. The point that I am trying to make is that the Lumia 950/xl and 650 are top quality phones. Whoever has seen a demo of my 950 has been blown away, even friends have Samsung Galaxy 7 edge have been in awe. My wife who has had every iPhone since iPhone 3 uses my phone when she has to take pictures. My mom has used all three platforms and has found Windows to be the best. Majority of the smart phone users don't use/can't afford high-end flagship phones and the Lumia 650 is a perfect solution for them. Yet, not only the phone was not marketed AT ALL, they are now no longer available. A lot of people love its stylish design, and want to try out the synchronization with Windows 10.

Plus common people like stability. the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy are omnipresent which gives consumers the confidence in their investment. What no one likes is instability and the risk of investing in a device that may become irrelevant soon. First its nokia lumia, then its microsoft lumia and now there is no lumia. The name Lumia has been synonymous with Windows Phone and it makes little sense to completely remove them from the planet. They can develop Surface Phones for enterprises and Lumia phones could have a flagship for consumers and a budget device (like Lumia 650). If the past is anything to go by, their failure to release a flagship for almost two years after Lumia 930 did a lot of harm to them.

The point I am advocating is that it is imperative that Microsoft remains relevant in the phone market before completely becoming irrelevant in a year's time.

It can't though. Honestly, look at all the inconsistencies and issues people suffer on the current stable releases let alone on the redstone ones. It's just not ready for the big time. Do you know how many returns at&t was getting for 950s because of issues? They need to perfect it and provide features that are unique and compelling along with great hardware. The current market share will have no bearing on any future market share. The current market share is not part of Microsoft's vision. They want to to be forgotten for that past, they want a fresh start. And they need to build up their app library, clean up the store and provide a generally great experience that people will enjoy. Then they can go in full force. They also need to get as many OEMs on board as possible.

Yes my 950XL is a great device and many of my friends were considering getting them. Mostly because of the gorgeous screen that works well with the OS. But I essentially told them not to. Because I am not huge on the latest trends and most of them are. And MS needs to prove that there is a means of profit in the windows 10 market. And this is why they are focusing on desktop. The best thing you can do if you want to see a future in windows mobile is get people on windows 10 and get them using apps from the store. MS wasted many years. They have their act together now. They have a big picture.

Targeting enterprise is a pretty good idea too. Blackberry became big in consumer space this way. The problem is they didn't design their OS for adding features easily and following trends. This is where w10 will have the advantage. Honestly things are changing phones will change dramatically and MS rather be in the new market space rather than try to compete in the old one. Hopefully they can start something new and fresh like they did with their 2-in-1's. Something even better. Other than that, you can't tell a company what they need to do to become successful. It's not how it works. The only thing that would help MS right now is a time machine.

 

[Scott Pisciotta]

With Windows Phone dying the slow death a real potential solution

I think the Chinese manufacturers may have a great solution in the works. As the Intel chips get better, you get a dual boot device that runs android for you phone and games, and Windows 10 (Full version).

This would get you the best of both worlds. Use Android for the phone, and when you want to get real work done, switch over to the Windows 10. You have to think in 5 years your phone will do it all from a processing power standpoint. Only hard core PC users would need a more powerful laptop.

Thoughts?

 

[libra89]

Re: With Windows Phone dying the slow death a real potential solution

If I'm not mistaken, didn't Intel stop making mobile chips? It's hard for me to consider this considering the former.

 

[Mohd Fadil A]

Simple, tons of apps