Most people do not need as many apps as they think they do. If you're ignorant of smartphones, you'll either go with the iPhone, Samsung, maybe even a Moto G. Because these are the phones techies talk about.
Once you actually get a smartphone, and you know what you're talking about, you might give Windows Phone a try. I should have held out for Windows Phone. But I tried Android instead because it was cheaper at the time. This was back when Windows Phone 7 was the option. But I always kept my eye on Windows Phone, because of my struggles with Linux, and I knew that Android was built on a similar background.
I was right. All of the issues that plague low resource Linux PCs plague low resource Android phones. It is cheap for a reason. I still did not want to go high end. I also felt a certain type of way because I was already burnt by two low end Android phones and did not feel as though I had gotten my moneys worth.
Windows Phone isn't everything, but it is more efficient at the few things it does do. Plus, there are things people use apps to do that are better accomplished through baking the functionality into the operating system. If you're stuck on an old version of Android or iOS for fear of bricking your phone you're missing out. Depending on how old that phone is, upgrading the OS may not even be an option. I have that covered for the foreseeable future, at a cheaper price point that I did not have that covered in Android.
There aren't many people that will give Windows Phone a chance as their first phone. That will never change. But Windows Phone makes a good clean up woman. That strategy can work for Microsoft as long as they continue to develop for other platforms. It is critical. I used OneDrive, Outlook and Bing on Android. I wasn't taxed by Google Play Services for it, because Microsoft apps do not require it. The framework for Microsoft apps, on Android, is built in, whereas native Google apps need another app to work. No one ever talks about this. So on Android, the way that it works, you're actually running system apps in addition to the app you're running UNLESS you go with a third party app. Which a lot of people do. But this simply is not necessary in Windows Phone because that process occurs on a deeper level and is hidden out of sight to end users. Cortana will be the icing on the cake because Google Now inflates to 50 MB on top of the 50 MB Google Play Services runs on Android. Google Now was actually cleaner on the iPhone; it still took up a lot of RAM, but again, no Play Services to contend with.
The provincialism I see in the Windows Phone community a waste of energy. Its no water off my back, no one had their hand in my pocket and I don't have a dog in this race. Developers, marketers, salespeople have valid concerns. The rest of us; look, Microsoft does give is some recourse. Windows Phone is not the Kin, and its not the Zune. We're not obsolete, because the market hasn't changed that much since Windows Phone 8.1 first came out, so if you don't get 10, for whatever reason, you still have a good infrastructure in place.