If MS cancelled all future phone development, what would you do?

[saulgould13]

Flip phone

 

[Nokia5110]

Nokia, Ubuntu (OS), ...... Vsenn, any plastic phone no metallic phone! Not sure if the 640 series will hit the shores Down Under? So far there is deafening silence, maybe they have no models that are compatible with the Telcos?

 

[DavidinCT]

When Microsoft gets their crap together, they make a great product but, they also have the large funds to do the proper R&D into the product and have a team of 1000+ working on it to get it right (as most smaller-mid size companies are lucky if they can get 50 people for one project).

They are also known to be in it for the long term, large profits can be made over night but, if you want long term income, you need to make a product that in time, it will be profitable and not just a one time profit.

No matter how much we love Windows Phone, there is still the fact that globally Windows Phone still sits around 2.5% of the market, This is after 4 or 5 years now (the first release of Windows Phone) ? This is not an ideal market for MS to be majorly profitable in, if this trend does continue, the end will come at some point. Look where the iPhone was after 4 years, look at Android after 4 years, Yea, Windows Phone in the numbers game is a major disappointment for Microsoft. It's a nice product but, this is still the truth here. Market share is everything in the mobile market.

The truth is, after Windows 10 comes out, after about a year, if Windows Phone still sits under 2.5% of the global market share, I would almost bet my life, that there would be discussions in very high up meetings about dropping Windows Phone for good or selling it off. Not that it would happen right away but, it would be discussed.

As for me, I'll stick around for a while, Might grab a Android phone to really play with it (and use tap to pay and access Bank of America on...and oh, MLB 2015 and Dish Network stream app) but, over all my heart is with WP and it's success.

If the crap came down and they finally killed it, I would stick around for a while, once the apps stop working and the resources are dried up for it, I would have to weight my options if that time comes, iOS or Android, as both of these OS's 2-3 years from now will be very different than they are today.

RIght now, even though I would hate to enter a google world, I might lean towards Android but, I despise Google more than I do Apple but, hate the iPhone..

Cant really win can I ?

Maybe I'll just grab a flip phone and call it a day...

 

[Yazen]

^ They have so many resources and cannot even produce a usable Music app... Foobar anyone? It is coming to WP10

 

[anon(8532178)]

I'll go Android fully. Having a testing device right now just playing around after a couple of months I got use to it.

 

[amitnahar]

Post of the year

Thank You

 

[rdubmu]

Already switched to iOS because they already abandoned the flagship market. I get all MS services on iOS and some of them are better than the windows phone counter part. Plus apps actually get updated...

 

[Motor_Mouth]

Interesting. I'm wondering if Blackberry would be a viable alternative? I know next to nothing about Blackberry since they never really took off here in Brisbane, as far as I'm aware. It seems dead in the water, but they keep releasing hardware...

Yeah, I think Blackberry would be the best alternative for me. The only BB device I've owned was a Playbook, which I got super-cheap and actually really liked. My experience with it was such that I'd happily go there rather than iOS or Android. I had an Android Walkman that I hated and even if iPhones were good, they are still ridiculously expensive, which leaves BB as the best alternative, I reckon.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

I don't think it is unrealistic to think that if there is no improvement in market share after 2 years of WP10 they would throw in the towel.

Why? They still sell twice as many phones in a quarter than they sell X-Boxes in a year so if it makes sense to keep selling X-Box, it makes 8 times more sense to keep selling phones, doesn't it? Market share won't matter, as long as they are making money on it and the smartphone market is big enough that they can make good money with a 5% share.

 

[wpn00b]

Already switched to iOS because they already abandoned the flagship market. I get all MS services on iOS and some of them are better than the windows phone counter part. Plus apps actually get updated...

If Microsoft comes out with a flagship this Fall, and it's intriguing enough to entice consumers, will all these developers trip over themselves to get an app out the door that should have been there in the first place? Why aren't they even trying to capture that new segment of the market? Be wherever your customers may go.

Microsoft seems to understand that at least.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

At least iTunes is not complete junk..

Really? When did they start including band bios in the app? Band photos? Related artists?

I wish they would just update and rebrand the Zune Player ...

Why? The current version works fine. I cannot imagine a time when I will want to use any other media manager/player. It is the closest thing to perfect I've found. Yes, X-Box music is nowhere near as good but it is still better than iTunes. But if you want a good alternative, Sony's Media Go is kind of like WMP could have been if MS had kept improving it and I think it's a free download (I got it with my Walkman).

 

[Sin Ogaris]

I imagine I would probably get a phone from a different manufacturer.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

^ They have so many resources and cannot even produce a usable Music app... Foobar anyone? It is coming to WP10

Hardly. X-Box Music may not be as good as Zune was but it's still better than any other music app I've seen, on any platform. It seems to have sped up a lot since I got my Lumia 830. Where it used to take 10-15 seconds to resume on my 925, it now does it in a second or so.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

From what I've seen of Windows 10 for phones, I think I might already be at the end of the road. I may have to buy a new phone before W10 comes out and keep it running with WP8.1 for as long as I can, because I think W10 is going far too much the way of Android and there is a reason I haven't bought an Android phone.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

If Nokia was struggling then acquired by Microsoft what would you do?
:winktongue:

 

[James8561]

I haven't found a single thing I did on my Android that I didn't find an alternative for on Windows Phone. GPS navigation, NFC payment, health/exercise, controlling my TV, banking, bill payments, news, social media, real time translation... all of it's there.

How did you get NFC payment on WP??

 

[Yazen]

Really? When did they start including band bios in the app? Band photos? Related artists?

Why? The current version works fine. I cannot imagine a time when I will want to use any other media manager/player. It is the closest thing to perfect I've found. Yes, X-Box music is nowhere near as good but it is still better than iTunes. But if you want a good alternative, Sony's Media Go is kind of like WMP could have been if MS had kept improving it and I think it's a free download (I got it with my Walkman).

Locked into Xbox Music unfortunately. Unless I wanted to record stream, seems easier just to pirate content that route lol.

Xbox has some interesting bells, but at least I can pause downloads in iTunes. That is a pretty basic feature lol.

I used to laugh at Apple peasants, iTunes is now the second worst desktop player I've ever used.

Edit: What Walkman do you own? I currently own a Z1040, but I wanted to use my 925+subscription model. Tired of carrying two similar sized devices haha.

 

[Yazen]

Hardly. X-Box Music may not be as good as Zune was but it's still better than any other music app I've seen, on any platform. It seems to have sped up a lot since I got my Lumia 830. Where it used to take 10-15 seconds to resume on my 925, it now does it in a second or so.

I like mostly like Xbox music on WP (has a few quirks), my big gripes are with the desktop app. Have had a music pass for one day and I've kind of given up on their music platform as a whole.

 

[TechFreak1]

Hmm what I'd do?

This:


For asking such a silly question :winktongue:.

 

[typhon62_1]

Already switched to iOS because they already abandoned the flagship market. I get all MS services on iOS and some of them are better than the windows phone counter part. Plus apps actually get updated...

Remove iOS and replace it with Android and you have my thoughts too.