"Windows phones' free-fall may force Microsoft to push harder on Windows 10 adoption"

[RumoredNow]

By the Way, HP has been known to throw money into a pit without a plan from time to time (How HP doomed the TouchPad to failure | ZDNet).

Add a couple boondogles on top of that. I'm well aware of the Apothekolypse to webOs and the Autonomy fiasco. Apotheker was HP CEO for about 9 days shy of a year and did everything he could to bankrupt the company.

Point is that HP must also be aware. They still have the bruised share prices as a reminder. With current leadership and a tighter focused board, I doubt sincerely they are embarking on this course with only the information that consumers have at their disposal. It is precisely the fallout from Apotheker's "tantrum" like killing of webOS hardware that makes it incumbent upon HP to have a successful reentry into the smartphone arena. They can't afford another failure there so soon. If you follow Meg Whitman at all, you can observe that she is well aware of the history and the future need to be successful in mobile. HP has done a lot to rehabilitate itself with tablet offerings. How is it they aren't going with Android for a phone since they have Android tablets aplenty? Must be either superior knowledge or reckless negligence... Hmmm?

...assuming the companies are making phones because there is some secret information is maybe less likely than Microsoft encouraging them to do it with some sort of assistance.

I see innovation a brewing and OEMs taking a chance. If they know no more than I do, are operating in a vacuum and are all just blindly dumping money into Windows as a platform for mobile with no justification I would be astounded. A "subsidy" from Microsoft wouldn't do it, IMHO. How much of a percent do you suppose they are underwriting? 10%? 20%? What point does it need to reach to make a comfortable cushion to entice companies to spend their own money as well? Certainly you wouldn't suggest Microsoft is underwriting 100% of development costs for any OEMs, let alone all of them... Across even half the OEM's I listed? Where is Microsoft hiding these "assistance" packages in their financials?

I'm not saying "secret" information so much as advance information on direction/features/etc. and assurances from Microsoft about their commitment to this space in the market. It's not a "backroom conspiracy" so much as it is how corporate partnerships are done. Do you suppose corporations that operate in conjunction to the degree that Hardware and Software tech enterprises must act do so without consulting one another?

 

[cracgor]

Point is that HP must also be aware...[REDACTED FOR LENGTH] How is it they aren't going with Android for a phone since they have Android tablets aplenty? Must be either superior knowledge or reckless negligence... Hmmm?

They do have Android phones. I do not think they have sold very well.

Certainly you wouldn't suggest Microsoft is underwriting 100% of development costs for any OEMs, let alone all of them... Across even half the OEM's I listed?

I didn't say Microsoft is bribing companies into using Windows 10 Mobile. I think if they were paying a company 100% of the development costs it would be as obvious as Microsoft paying 100% of the development costs of Nokia. Really, I just mean that they do not operate in a vacuum, and Microsoft employs people that go to the hardware companies just to talk them into using the MS product.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I read it as "the strategy does not work" for the overall success of Windows Mobile; or increasing the number of Windows Mobile users to a viable third platform. Microsoft pulls back with the Lumia brand to allow more room for other companies. Other companies make phones. Now we have to see if it works.

The Alcatel "gamble" you mention sounds too eerily like Nokia's gamble.

Also, assuming the companies are making phones because there is some secret information is maybe less likely than Microsoft encouraging them to do it with some sort of assistance. By the Way, HP has been known to throw money into a pit without a plan from time to time (How HP doomed the TouchPad to failure | ZDNet).

The Touchpad debacle was a shame. I know somebody who has one. Granted, he got it during the fire sale, but it's a nice tablet.

 

[RumoredNow]

They do have Android phones. I do not think they have sold very well.

Currently? Or Tablets with Telephony enabled?

 

[cracgor]

Currently? Or Tablets with Telephony enabled?

HP Slate6 VoiceTab - Full phone specifications

 

[RumoredNow]

Yeah... I think most look on that as Tab with telephony wedged in...

 

[cracgor]

I just consider something marketed as a phone that can make phone calls a phone.

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...%2FGetPDF.aspx%2Fc04512260.pdf&token=tGoKJWwB

 

[anon(6078578)]

Yeah... I think most look on that as Tab with telephony wedged in...

It has a 6 inch screen so wouldn't that make the 950 XL a tablet with a phone wedged in? After all it's only a little smaller :grin:

 

[RumoredNow]

My 1520 has a 6" screen. I never considered it a tablet. It could be marketing perception. Look at the name: Slate6 VoiceTab.

The Pixi 3 (8) can make phone calls (Android and W10M flavors), but it still represents itself as a tablet.



Talk about coincidence: Microsoft's Terry Myerson 'committed' to Windows 10 Mobile for 'many years' | Windows Central

 

[Great deal]

Was very surprising when MS said Windows Mobile is not a focus for this year. What reason do developers have to create universal apps? most likley a small % use those apps on an Xbox (most people dont have one anyway) Hololens is not released yet...therefore Windows 10 universal apps are competing with their own desktop apps (Nextgen Reader as an example) i feel sorry for HP.

 

[WPhoner]

NOT TOO LATE.

Its doom and gloom all over the place. even Apple (yeah I said it)
Declining iPhone sales: The end for Apple? | Pocketnow

I don't know about the U.S., but MS has almost COMPLETELY pulled out of the Canadian market. you cannot buy a windows phone anywhere except a MS store. all of the carriers support it, but dont ask them for any info. they simply dont know.

If Nadella's plan is to come back in a year with a device that is branded as something OTHER than a phone, MS has a winner.
A couple of years after we first heard the word "surface", its all about "2-in-1's" the word laptop is pass?, ipad sales dropped.. why get ONE, when you can have TWO!.. game changing genius.

Personally, I cant wait for the "surface-like" industry disruptor "...that can replace your cell phone".
Take your time. get it right MS.

 

[anon(6078578)]

Personally, I cant wait for the "surface-like" industry disruptor "...that can replace your cell phone".

You mean instead of a phone with tablet like capabilities, we'll now get a tablet with phone capabilities. Genius! :winktongue:

 

[Mad Cabbie]

I have mentioned several times now that MS need to abandon the WP moniker. It is a poisoned chalice. I hope that by withdrawing for a few months or so, they may come back refreshed. Hopefully with the 'time out', they will come back with something more than a phone, but a complete mobile communications device. I have been with the insider program for a while, and although things are improving, it still feels like a Windows 10 'lite', almost an RT. So lets hope that things do pick up. I don't want my choice of Os restricted to two. Hang on, I despise apple, so make that one!

Whilst the alleged decline in windows take up is flashed around the tech world, why is no one throwing muck at the latest Apple figures? They are stagnating. The best selling iPhone at my friends workplace (CPW) is the 5 still! The iPhone 6? They are just too damned expensive and fragile!!

 

[cracgor]

Whilst the alleged decline in windows take up is flashed around the tech world, why is no one throwing muck at the latest Apple figures? They are stagnating. The best selling iPhone at my friends workplace (CPW) is the 5 still! The iPhone 6? They are just too damned expensive and fragile!!

May as well throw the declining PC sales into that stagnating market. In which case, Microsoft is trying to pull a sunk ship (Windows Mobile) up with a sinking ship (Windows). I don't really believe Windows is in a mess because PC sales are declining. I think their model to be available on whatever platform (PC, Android, Mac) and as the backend for cloud services is the company's best bet. Anyway, just because Windows Mobile is doing poorly, it doesn't help to point at a competitor and say, "see they aren't doing well either."

 

[Great deal]

Perhaps mobile sales no matter what the technology have reached saturation point. Was bound to happen at some stage, now its gloves off for stealing other platforms users, a straight fight between Apple and Android, MS are out of the ring looking in at this stage. Hopefully they learn something and bring something new that gives them an advantage. Please Please dont be too crazy in that no one 'gets' it. Its all about timing and Microsoft have a history of getting it wrong.

 

[diapers]

Perhaps mobile sales no matter what the technology have reached saturation point. Was bound to happen at some stage, now its gloves off for stealing other platforms users, a straight fight between Apple and Android, MS are out of the ring looking in at this stage. Hopefully they learn something and bring something new that gives them an advantage. Please Please dont be too crazy in that no one 'gets' it. Its all about timing and Microsoft have a history of getting it wrong.

If you're paying attention it's not about sales. The sales were never going to compete, it's about the viability of the platform.

 

[C Boos]

I owned and used (2) 640's for months then switched to iPhone, bought 4 of the ATT 640 when it was $29 at WalMart and then resold them on ebay for around $50 each- so I did my part, bought (6) 640's in about 9 months- and kept 1 of them just for the GPS/Here maps when I travel out of the country-

 

[Great deal]

If you're paying attention it's not about sales. The sales were never going to compete, it's about the viability of the platform.

The measure of a viable platform no matter how good it is, is via a metric called...Sales and of course timing to market and how its presented, received and perceived. The bitter truth is outside of this forum and other similar ones where people with Windows Phones congregate not many believe the platform is viable. I did, im on the fence now.

 

[ohgood]

If you're paying attention it's not about sales. The sales were never going to compete, it's about the viability of the platform.

viability of what platform ?

mobile = zero viability for microsoft - they cannot figure it out
desktop = no change from last decade - they own it

 

[RumoredNow]

viability of what platform ?

mobile = zero viability for microsoft - they cannot figure it out
desktop = no change from last decade - they own it

And Microsoft are now midstream in an effort to merge all screens onto one platform.