Why Isn't Windows Phone Doing Better?

[Oliverspin]

Lack of Marketing

Lack of New and Popular Apps

Lack of incentives for new Devs

Lack of carrier support

Lack of cross carrier devices (exclusives suck)

Lack of features (8.1 ain't out yet OTA)

Lack of Microsoft caring (their own apps come to other platforms first before their own)

Which of these should be first? Many people know what's wrong, what's the first step?

 

[pdplatypus]

Some app developers don't find any assurance with the platform despite that it is one of the fastest-growing platforms.
Windows Phone lacks the support for OTG and 3rd party support for A/V receivers like in iOS and some Android devices.

Another thing is that there are markets that does not offer Windows Phone or now considered as a "dead market".
One of the examples are South Korea and Japan.
Despite that Samsung creates Windows Phones, they don't sell to in their mother country.
Both countries had a Windows Phone but they were stuck to 7.8.
S. Korea had Nokia 710 while Japan had Toshiba-Fujitsu IS12T.

Here in the Philippines, I am saddened that Nokia PH promotes Android through Nokia X than their Lumias on Windows Phones. I don't know why they have to do this.

MICROSOFT NEEDS TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH MARKETING, especially to dead markets and with low market share.

 

[Dexter505]

Whatsapp got pulled because of a bug that drains the battery on WP devices, that was the responsible thing to do.

If I got get her an Android phone she wouldn't have had to deal with any of that plus the apps on Android are so much more polished compare to what is on windows.

 

[SammyD_L625]

If I got get her an Android phone she wouldn't have had to deal with any of that plus the apps on Android are so much more polished compare to what is on windows.

I think I've seen your "I should have bought my mother an Android" posts way too much. If your mother uses Whatsapp a lot and you feel its not coming back (it is) then get her a phone that currently has Whatsapp on their store ie. as you so often have pointed out, Android. Personally I think that basing a choice of OS by the TEMPORARY removal of an app from the store is irrational. I think if they thought removing the app was a good idea, I can't question, I'm not a dev but I never experienced any issues with mine. Hoping it comes back soon though.

 

[CrossedFaith]

I have a few guesses...

1) Marketing. Like everyone else said. I don't need to elaborate too much here.

2) App ecosystem. Lets be honest, while my near year with windows phone has seen a dramatic increase in apps, we still lack a good amount. some banking apps, BBM, candy crush, etc. Believe it or not, I know someone who got rid of their 1020 because they couldn't play candy crush...

3) Late to the game. If WP 8/8.1 had debuted around the time Android did, i think we'd see a much different playing field. just speculation on that one, really.

4) People don't like change. Take me for example. i used a blackberry tour from the day it came out until...I THINK July last year? Then I got a galaxy note. it was such a hard change, because lets be honest...blackberry was awesome. Then going from Android to WP was ANOTHER huge change for me. granted, a change for the better...but a change regardless.

those are my thoughts, anyway.

 

[Karthik Naik]

DEV do not have any Enthusiasm for WP OS, It is a Truth.

they will soon i guess and hope
i attend these dev conferences in my city and i see alot of enthusiasm for android and WP apps like most of them only develop, own or will develop for these platforms because alot of piracy exists on ios and android(especially) so they want to stop making apps for android altogether and are currently developing apps for wp which are yet to release etc

 

[Editguy1900]

I am shopping around to replace my BB and was in Future Shop and there were no Windows Phones on display either. My carrier's store had a 1020 but nothing else. Are the carriers part of the problem??

I think in the U.S. that they are a huge part of the problem. If you go in to most carrier stores and ask for a Windows Phone, most of the sales people (who actually know very little about phones and, yes, I'm generalizing) will try very hard to get you to purchase something else. It happened to me and to everyone that I've converted to Windows Phone. That included T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon. How do you get in the game when the carriers sales people are actually actively working against you?

 

[A895]

I think in the U.S. that they are a huge part of the problem. If you go in to most carrier stores and ask for a Windows Phone, most of the sales people (who actually know very little about phones and, yes, I'm generalizing) will try very hard to get you to purchase something else. It happened to me and to everyone that I've converted to Windows Phone. That included T-mobile, AT&T and Verizon. How do you get in the game when the carriers sales people are actually actively working against you?

You spend money to create awareness among the people who are selling your products. Its not all the carriers fault, why hasn't Microsoft got someone in carrier stores to reach reps and make then aware of Windows Phone? Same problem with BlackBerry, they think carrier reps are supposed to do all the effort.

Sent from my XT907 using Mobile Nations mobile app

 

[androidtoWM]

i think MS brand has something to do with it.

'Oh...nice but it's by Microsoft' or 'I bet it crashes a lot' or 'Does anyone uses it' >>> some of the genuine reactions from my friends/colleagues when i show my phone.

Also, I think in the US, owning an iPhone is a status symbol.

And honestly, with iPhone, Apple nailed it for non-tech folks...Like it or not, for an average Joe, an iPhone 'just works' and they are too 'scared' to try another platform.

 

[pdplatypus]

I agree with your statement regarding iPhones. Yes, their impact had even turned it into a household name.

Posted via Windows Phone Central App

 

[trainplane]

i think MS brand has something to do with it.

'Oh...nice but it's by Microsoft' or 'I bet it crashes a lot' or 'Does anyone uses it' >>> some of the genuine reactions from my friends/colleagues when i show my phone.

Also, I think in the US, owning an iPhone is a status symbol.

And honestly, with iPhone, Apple nailed it for non-tech folks...Like it or not, for an average Joe, an iPhone 'just works' and they are too 'scared' to try another platform.

Totally agree with this. Which is why even if MS has all the apps it needs and the OS has feature parity with Android/iOS, it still won't win back users. You tell someone, "Windows Phone can do everything your phone can do." They'll say, "So what, it's the same, why should I switch?"

The only way WP will bring masses of users is to offer a must have feature. 5 day battery life, DSLR quality photographs (no, 1020 isn't), fold-able screen, completely drop and water proof, something we've never thought about--just some crazy tech that will make jaws drop and make people want to switch.

 

[rex.reyesiii]

Sad to say, but its still because of the Apps. e.g. the official FB app sucks.

 

[Chregu]

Considering that Europe seems to be the strongest market I'm on the side of people thinking Microsoft only cares about the US.

Too many features are just available in the US, Cortana is only the most prominent example. The quality of Bing is terrible in comparison to Google here, and I don't see any effort by Microsoft to make it better. Also, there's not much new hardware and the hardware that comes out is not very exciting. The 1020 was special, but it was a niche product.

Also, the market is very saturated, people feel comfortable with what they have now. There's just no good reason for people to switch to Windows Phone, except if they really dislike Apple and Google or like the tile design. Most people I know that bought a Windows Phone came from "dumb-phones".

The app situation only makes it worse, but I think it's not a main problem anymore. There are mostly local apps missing and the overall quality is worse than on other platforms, but the apps are there. At least if they bring Whatsapp back in reasonable time. I don't see anybody buying a phone without Whatsapp in my country.

 

[gerzhwin]

What's app is crap compared to other phone os and Facebook is a bag of **** on wp8. Just ask facebook nicely make us a Facebook app,that's the same as ios and release it.

I recently sent a private message including a post, and the receipient couldn't see the attached post on her iPhone. IDK if the same problem exists on Android ?

 

[wrm1]

Everyone keeps saying that they entered the smartphone market late...Actually, they re-entered it. HTC, Motorola, Samsung...Remember the Q, Blackjack and the Dash running Windows Mobile? Microsoft was there they had a fairly decent presence, but, they didn't react to the changing environment fast enough. Combine that with Marketing and the lack of push from reps in the stores and you find yourself in the current predicament.

 

[Karthik Naik]

FB and whatsapp devs are lazy as hell, they havent got a single app right
FB app is best on WP, whatsapp is best on ios,android has stable builds of both but still not upto the mark
even twitter and line have better apps on every platform

 

[Chregu]

FB and whatsapp devs are lazy as hell, they havent got a single app right
FB app is best on WP, whatsapp is best on ios,android has stable builds of both but still not upto the mark
even twitter and line have better apps on every platform

Facebook is a multi-billion company. I don't think laziness is the right word. If they don't support Windows Phone it's a pure business decision.

 

[colinkiama]

Facebook is a multi-billion company. I don't think laziness is the right word. If they don't support Windows Phone it's a pure business decision.

Lol they do. Haven't you heard of facebook messenger?

 

[Chregu]

Lol they do. Haven't you heard of facebook messenger?

Let me rephrase this.

If they don't support Windows Phone in the same way as they do other platforms, providing a high quality Facebook app or an acceptable Whatsapp app (I don't have Facebook anymore, is the WP Facebook app still programmed by Microsoft or is Facebook doing it now?) then this is a pure business decision.

 

[thewphub]

They should analyze why Xbox 360 was such a massive success, even with Sony and Nintendo around. I' ll give you a hint. It came out 1 year (roughly) before the Playstation 3 here in Germany.

Now, i know that Smartphone cycles are not once every 10 years, but maybe if they upped their current Model refresh rates, media would talk about them more often and awareness would rise.


Leonard Klint,
Founder and Editor @ The Windows Phone Hub: Ultimative WINDOWS PHONE NEWS. APPS, REVIEWS