I absolutely love how people try to downplay what Nokia has done or if they don't suddenly it is because "They were paid billons"
I don't care if they were paid to do it or not. They have done MORE for this platform and brought eyes to it than Samsung, HTC, LG and any of the other OEMs.
It doesn't cripple the market share. The market share has been growing BECAUSE Of lumias alike. I wish people would stop this whole mentality of "We need more OEMs for better market share."
No....We need to get the APPS that IOS and Android has so the reviewers will stop harping how WP lacks this and lacks that.
We already have options from Nokia and less but decent(I suppose) options from Samsung & HTC. Fact of the matter is people that have WP now, most of which went Lumia. When you think of WP, you think lumia. Much like unfortunately, Galaxy is signature for Android.
I refuse to buy a WP from LG simply because LG likely wont support the damn thing. If I am not mistaken, their Windows Phone(s) they did release didn't even get 7.8
I'd rather Microsoft invest money in our platform and using it to get the developers to come on over vs caving in so we can get more hardware. In most cases, the hardware is never the complaint and why the reason people dislike WP.
it's the SOFTWARE and the 3rd party apps.
having more options is fine....and I agree with that, even if Lumia is better tome.
But saying we need more OEMs just for market share is wholly incorrect. And telling people they should get Non-Lumia/Microsoft phones just so we can appease OEMs is just..laughable.
Personally I wish Microsoft would grow a pair and let these OEMs do whatever they want to do....this Is for WP and Windows 8.
These OEMS want to jump in bed with GOOGLE then let them, start releasing Surface lines for all sorts of price points from budget to premium.
Redefine the Lumia experience post-Nokia deal. Let them make their hand me downs if they want to do but I hope they do not dilute the already established and popular Lumia brand just to appease these OEMs who don't give a damn really.
It's bad enough our apps are now coming to the other WPs. That is annoying but not much I can do. Hopefully Microsoft will continue bringing EXCLUSIVE features to the lumia line since all long prior, Lumias were synonymous with the extra features and apps. The Nexus of WP in a way while the others were just...basic windows phone.
I am all for competition, but not at the expense of taking an already established great thing(And the very thing that has made WP what it is now) and destroying it just so we can say we have Samsung, HTC and LG phones.
The Uni8 looks great but it is LG(though I'd own an LG before I own a Samsung) and they've already proven once they are not reliable as a wp OEM.
If people only buy Lumias, then other OEMS won't support it as much as they would. That limits the number of devices and will cripple WP's potential market share.
You can complain about other OEMs all you want, but its silly to criticize companies for not wanting to lose money (possibly millions) just for the sake of Micah Dawson being able to buy a phone that "supports" WP (which Nokia mainly did because they were paid $1 billion a year).
Refusing to buy a phone because the company made a logical business decision that you don't agree to is some flawed logic.