What's the deal with Verizon & Microsoft?

[runamuck83]

Does anyone have any insider information? Why does Verizon seem to snub Microsoft so heavily?
I'm not stupid - I get there is that pesky "market share" problem, but that hasn't stopped AT&T?

What does Microsoft need to do to gain some favor with them?

Or, am I completely wrong here?

 

[fdalbor]

My brother is on Verizon, only because its all he can get in the hills of NC. He used to have ATT when he lived in Louisiana. Says they treat everyone like S--t, and if he could get anyone else he would drop "Big Red" in a second.

 

[pedrag]

I'll bet the Lumina 940 , the flagship phone will not be available at Verizon when launched

 

[Robinsonmac]

The problem is everyone is looking at it from a emotional point of view. If you were Verizon looking at WP as a business who's #1 reason for being is to make a profit, what benefit as a business do you gain by really backing a platform with 3% market share financially and lose money or break even. I'll tell you.....none whatsoever. The only way MS will get the same phone on any US carrier at the same time is if they pay a ton of cash, because frankly there is no reason for any carrier to carry WP from a business stand point.

 

[Ejay Lozano]

They don't see clearly through windows. This is a A&A (apple/android) world, so sad.

 

[Mike Majeski]

Lumia Icon fiasco aside, are they any worse than T-Mobile or Sprint? Sprint only offers the 635 (and only recently), T-Mobile just dropped the M8 for Windows off their site after only 4 months (only 635 and 530 are available now, with 640 coming soon) and Verizon has ATIV SE and M8.

Only AT&T is willing to stock several Windows Phone models, but AT&T has shown they will pretty much throw anything on the shelf (first iPhone, Amazon Fire Phone).

 

[SteveNoza]

The problem is everyone is looking at it from a emotional point of view. If you were Verizon looking at WP as a business who's #1 reason for being is to make a profit, what benefit as a business do you gain by really backing a platform with 3% market share financially and lose money or break even. I'll tell you.....none whatsoever. The only way MS will get the same phone on any US carrier at the same time is if they pay a ton of cash, because frankly there is no reason for any carrier to carry WP from a business stand point.

I could buy this argument except for the fact that Verizon carries the HTC One M8 for Windows and the Samsung ATIV SE, and also the fact that they carry the platform with a smaller market than Windows Phone, BlackBerry, where they have the Classic, Z10 and Z30. No, there's some bad blood here, unfortunately this affects us Windows Phone people. I had switched from Sprint to get the Icon, will I have to go elsewhere when I upgrade?

 

[Robinsonmac]

In my opinion the only reason they have those other devices is because they were paid to have them. Once whatever cl tract they have in place expires, if they still have mo market share they will no longer sell WP. I think some of this goes back to the failed phone MS pulled the plug on after Verizon had already purchased them.

 

[Victor Harshman]

Hey it can't be to bad Verizon worked with Microsoft to release Denim. AT&T hasn't yet.

 

[Harry Wild]

I just don't see why Microsoft does not market their flagship Lumia phones in the manner they do in the rest of the world?

How about an unlocked U.S. Version with all the U.S. Radios inside so you can pretty use the phone with any U.S. Carrier of you choice.

 

[rhapdog]

Does anyone have any insider information? Why does Verizon seem to snub Microsoft so heavily?
I'm not stupid - I get there is that pesky "market share" problem, but that hasn't stopped AT&T?

What does Microsoft need to do to gain some favor with them?

Or, am I completely wrong here?

My brother is on Verizon, only because its all he can get in the hills of NC. He used to have ATT when he lived in Louisiana. Says they treat everyone like S--t, and if he could get anyone else he would drop "Big Red" in a second.

Here's the deal. It's not REALLY a market share problem. It's an attitude problem. Customer service treats all customers equally as bad because they can. Why? Because a lot of people have no choice when it comes to coverage. They are a monopoly in certain areas. AT&Ts expanding is catching up to them at a pretty fast rate, however, and Verizon hasn't even seen it coming. Once AT&T has caught up with coverage (if they ever do), then Verizon is going to have to start playing nice with customers again, including providing a better selection for phones that the customers want. Price and Customer Service are both on the AT&T side compared to Verizon.

 

[Grimlock]

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about the relationship between carriers and Microsoft and other OEMs, and a big reason why there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there.

OEMs go to the carriers and sell them the phones- they are essentially the customer. Verizon decides if it will carry something based on whether or not they think they can sell it. Just like retail stores (Walmart, BB) they sometimes want exclusives to have an advantage over other carriers. Whatever inventory they purchase they are selling to us.

Verizon or any other carrier will want WP if there is consumer interest, but when their past sales haven't been too hot and they don't see an increase demand in the future they aren't going to be running to MS to get their latest flagship.

Carriers don't really hate MS, Google, Apple etc- what they hate are stock piles of unsold inventory.

 

[gMaesterUK]

I agree, it's a commercial decision, however I was talking with my partner the other day, when it was mentioned that the iPhone 6S will most likely have the Apple SIM built-in, similar to the cellular version of the iPad Air 2. Here in the UK, only EE allowed Apple SIM, so the other networks refuse to sell the product. Will be interesting to watch what happens in the coming months before the 6S launch!

Ties in with a report (can't remember which site I read it on) where a 'major' US network had demanded more Windows Phones, I'm assuming this is to counter the Apple SIM issue...

What's people's thought's on the Apple SIM, and the idea you're locked to Apple and not a network...

G.

 

[several potatos]

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about the relationship between carriers and Microsoft and other OEMs, and a big reason why there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there.

OEMs go to the carriers and sell them the phones- they are essentially the customer. Verizon decides if it will carry something based on whether or not they think they can sell it. Just like retail stores (Walmart, BB) they sometimes want exclusives to have an advantage over other carriers. Whatever inventory they purchase they are selling to us.

Verizon or any other carrier will want WP if there is consumer interest, but when their past sales haven't been too hot and they don't see an increase demand in the future they aren't going to be running to MS to get their latest flagship.

Carriers don't really hate MS, Google, Apple etc- what they hate are stock piles of unsold inventory.

When you don't put in effort to sell the products, they don't sell. It then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that frustrates all parties involved. And the guilt falls squarely on the shoulders of the carriers.

 

[Grimlock]

When you don't put in effort in selling the products, they don't sell. It then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that frustrates all parties involved. And the guilt falls squarely on the shoulders of the carriers.

Are you talking about Microsoft not putting much effort in selling the products or the carriers? I don't think MS does a goes job of creating a pre-launch buzz so people aren't going into the stores and asking about the phones. It's a tough sell for the carriers when people don't even know what the product is. It wasn't the carriers that made the iPhone so popular, Apple created the demand and the carriers followed their lead.

I remember my local AT&T did a good job the day WP8 launched. All the employees were wearing windows shirts and there was a display for the 8x and L920. Problem was there was only me and one other person that showed up to buy one.

​I'm not saying that carriers are doing a great job of pushing the product, but you can't blame them more than MS.

 

[wpn00b]

My brother is on Verizon, only because its all he can get in the hills of NC. He used to have ATT when he lived in Louisiana. Says they treat everyone like S--t, and if he could get anyone else he would drop "Big Red" in a second.

Do you really believe that? No one at Verizon, AT&T or wherever is hellbent on treating people like "S--t" and keeping their job.

I can tell you personally that VZW has always differentiated through customer service and network. Worked there 10 years and that was always the mantra, so they don't treat him like "S--t" because they can or because they have the best coverage. If there are issues with the network and they can't do anything about it, they will let him know, but they won't give credit or free phones because of it.

If the phone has an issue that they need to properly troubleshoot and he wants to bypass it and get a replacement, they won't budge. That's not treating a customer like S--t. If there is no recourse they will let him out of a contract with no early termination fee after a network ticket confirms it.

Nothing against you guys but having worked there the reps don't know your particular area as well as you do so that doesn't factor in. We do what we can WITHIN the limits provided by the company. If its outside of scope then we will say so... But we don't treat you like crap just because.

 

[wpn00b]

Sorry for not commenting on the actual issue. They don't sell enough so they don't put resources behind it. They tried and it didn't work. More chicken or the egg type stuff going on there as well.

They don't push it anymore so it doesn't sell, so they don't push it... .