They promise 2 years.. Why not die already with such a terrible message?

[DumDee2]

The mobile will come from all the iOS and Android devices running Windows apps, with or without Microsoft hardware. The whole universal app idea is to get Microsoft stuff onto iOS and Android devices where the huge numbers are. Already the best Microsoft apps are better on iOS or Android. I think Nadella's vision for the moment is to have enough devices to showcase what Windows 10 and universal apps can do, but the sales numbers will come from all the other device manufacturers.

i thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Getting ios and droid apps to run on all windows platforms, like windows desktop, mobile, xbox etc....

 

[ric2001]

They said AT LEAST 2 years. With development time for hardware, I'd imagine this means that they have hardware in the works or planned that may not be out for another 2 years, then they'll see after that.

Which means there is no need to jump ship just yet.

I think most of you are missing the point. What does a company or app developer think after hearing that MS will continue to develop phones for "at least 2 years"? It introduces some amount of doubt if they are thinking of supporting the platform. Why even put a time table on it? What's the point of that? One of the biggest issues with the adoption rate is lack of apps and making an announcement like that doesn't help. Not to mention a potential buyer that's on the fence on which phone to buy.

If you want WP to succeed like I do, you should feel the same way. Don't just follow what they say, question it. Microsoft should know better.

 

[Blacklac]

You guys are missing the point of the two years comment. First, its not an official statement. That's huge... Secondly, it was only mentioned because people were wrongly assuming MS was abandoning WP.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[paulxxwall]

WP was not doing overall that great ! With out this news of layoffs,write offs etc! Imagine now! Ok true many don't read tech site to hear of this news but it on media news outlets now! NBC,CBS,ABC, all have reported on this disaster!
Even with good news about WP ....they still struggle ! Oh well

 

[jlzimmerman]

You are wrong. Are you reading the web? I follow 40 of the biggest tech sites and they all say it is dead or nearly dead.

Aaaaaand you expect an objective approach to Microsoft or Windows Phone from these tech sites? Really? That's like going into a carrier store and asking a sales person about Windows Phone and expecting to get objective information. Good luck with that.

 

[jmshub]

Approximately 6 months ago, Samsung announced that they had too many phones they were producing and would "simplifying it's product line" in 2015. That means that they are eliminating products. That is exactly what Microsoft is choosing to do. Arguably, that is necessary. There are too many Lumia brands. There has been countless discussions of that over the years.

This product simplification comes along with the very unfortunate announcement that 7800 employees will be let go, along with the write off the Nokia assets. That make this look much more dire than it is.

However, I am trying not to sound like a cheerleader, it also shows us that perhaps Mr. Nadella's Microsoft isn't willing to maintain business as usual if Windows mobile fails to make a splash in the market. But we have to take the news at face value. For at least another phone product cycle, there will be Windows phones in the marketplace. We will definitely see flagships with the release of Win10 mobile. A lot can happen in two years. If the promise of one Windows comes to fruition, product share may increase. Customers may return, and Windows mobile may become more integral to Microsoft's mission.

 

[Wbutchart1]

Sheesh, this shows the impact all these bloogers who are sticking the knife into microsoft are achieving. To think that windows phone will stop is complete conjecture for that has never been hinted at. HARDWARE may be at risk, no doubt about that, Microsoft will be watching to see if when they narrow their approach to see if others get some traction. Microsoft have no interest in dominating a hardware market, they are a software company, but I think we have seen especially with the surface that they are happy to work with thier partners and contribute in select areas with hardware. I sure hope Lumias continue, they are great phones, and I believe they will in those three areas we are now all well familiar with.

 

[Yasser Aboobakar]

I think if they let down windows phone after the 2 years..even windows os itself will be affected as they are focusing on universal apps and continuum which works best for windows phone alongside the pc...however in 2 years i dun think things will be so bad...things are bad now because no flagship is out yet and the phones hardware r pretty dated....once they restructure and focus on the new market segments things will start moving...fingers crossed...

 

[Raymond Lavertue]

There are so many important issues touched on in this thread.

Americans are losing out with CDMA phones.

The link between cellular service and phone purchase should be severed, or at least totally optional. And if you do try to purchase a GSM unlocked phone online from a non-carrier it should not be a dice roll. I purchased a Lumia 635 advertised as unlocked from Amazon. It came with an AT & T logo on it -- as it turns out I wanted AT & T service, then. I still don't know if its unlocked or not. Now I'm using a Lumia 640 purchased from the Microsoft Store. It was advertised as a T-Mobile phone. It came with a T-Mobile SIM card. Presumably its locked but unlockable?

Great phones and great OS's don't necessarily reach the mainstream. My extraordinary 2010 Palm Pre with its remarkable Palm OS is sitting in front of me, an unsupported, de-activated work of art.

Microsoft has an opportunity to do something revolutionary with Windows Phone. Untethering the duped masses of Americans from the arrogant cellular carriers that provide overpriced inferior technology and services should be a part of the revolution. Microsoft: your Mobile vision is a good one. Follow it through, but find a better way to get your product to consumers.

 

[krisguy]

MS is going to need other hardware companies to make Windows Mobile devices to make Windows 10 work. If there was a M9 for Windows, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk

 

[PepperdotNet]

Just my personal experience but in the past week, I have encountered two (count 'em, two!) people I did not personally know who were talking on a white Microsoft Lumia 640. That's two more Lumia owners than I've personally seen in the previous 50 weeks (excluding immediate family members of course). Things are looking up!

It would probably be safe to assume they bought them at WalMart.

 

[Andrew Gordon]

It's situations like this that have led win phone to this point in the first place. When Microsoft pull stunts like this they never explain things clearly which leads to speculation and rumour and negative press.
They must be reading the articles and blogs stating the demise of Windows Phone so why aren't they addressing them? A lie can travel around the world before the truth has got it's boots on. If the truth is still dozing in bed it has no chance!
By the time this news filters down to the average mobile buying consumer I can bet it will come across as though win phone will be dead in two years.
If MS are committed to the success of Windows Phone and win 10 mobile, even if it's on other OEM hardware, they should be all over this with damage control.

 

[netmann]

Perception is not always the reality....

I think MS made a mistake on the timing of these announcements (layoffs and the 2-year commitment). The only entity that can fix this situation is - you guessed right - MS again. If I was MS I would do something right now, not later to put off this fire.....For example, if at least one of the flagship phones is ready for primetime, I would release it now with WP8.1 Update 2 OS on it and not wait until WP10 is finalized.....my 2c

 

[Awhispersecho]

What a mess. Timing wasn't great, lack of clarity is awful as usual, and they refuse to ever set the record straight which allows the media to create the reality. MS is awful and incompetent she its comes to communicating their vision, their message and their products. How hard would it be for Nadella to just clear things up with a 1 sentence statement? He simply won't do it. I truly believe he would drop WP today if he thought he could get away with it.

In addition, I mentioned the other day, I went into an AT@T store on Monday and was told WP was awful. Why is it awful, because there is too many things going on, "too many windows" as the rep said. I then went to Verizon with my Uncle who is looking to upgrade, the Verizon rep told us MS was cancelling WP, adopting android and just putting their services on it. So in a matter of 15 minutes, from the 2 biggest carriers, that's the message being sent. Oh, and neither store carries any WP's.

This is an ongoing issue that MS simply refuses to address. I even sent a tip to Windows Central to see if the would write an article about this issue sp we could all share our experiences with the obstacles at retail. Nothing, nada.

MS has been like an absentee parent with WP, terrible marketing, mismanagement on every level and no desire of effort given to improving the retail situation. They are the reason it has not been successful and instead of doing anything right, they would rather pull the plug. It's pathetic. If WP ever finds any success it will be in spite of MS and Nadella, not because of them.

 

[anon(5969054)]

What a mess. Timing wasn't great, lack of clarity is awful as usual, and they refuse to ever set the record straight which allows the media to create the reality. MS is awful and incompetent she its comes to communicating their vision, their message and their products. How hard would it be for Nadella to just clear things up with a 1 sentence statement? He simply won't do it. I truly believe he would drop WP today if he thought he could get away with it.

In addition, I mentioned the other day, I went into an AT@T store on Monday and was told WP was awful. Why is it awful, because there is too many things going on, "too many windows" as the rep said. I then went to Verizon with my Uncle who is looking to upgrade, the Verizon rep told us MS was cancelling WP, adopting android and just putting their services on it. So in a matter of 15 minutes, from the 2 biggest carriers, that's the message being sent. Oh, and neither store carries any WP's.

This is an ongoing issue that MS simply refuses to address. I even sent a tip to Windows Central to see if the would write an article about this issue sp we could all share our experiences with the obstacles at retail. Nothing, nada.

MS has been like an absentee parent with WP, terrible marketing, mismanagement on every level and no desire of effort given to improving the retail situation. They are the reason it has not been successful and instead of doing anything right, they would rather pull the plug. It's pathetic. If WP ever finds any success it will be in spite of MS and Nadella, not because of them.

Your post hits everything right. This is exactly what is wrong. WP could easily gain more market share with the right management but they don't do anything to make it succeed. The opposite. They damage and confuse. It's truly pathetic.
There is no reason whatsoever to give a timeline of two years in the open. They could eeasily think this secretly and then suddenly pull the plug in two years. Now it's like, why even try if you are not believing in your product? I am not expecting anything from OEMs. Never have they released a decent windows phone. When the galaxy 7 hits the market we might get a galaxy 6 with windows phone. No wonder they don't sell.
Microsoft seriously has to respond quickly to all this bad press. Average consumers will remember these headlines of 'wp is dead' when they go buy a phone. Add to that sales people who refuse to sell WPs and there is no chance in hell you will sell windows phones.

 

[Kodiak12]

Some of you are stuck in this "phone only" mentality. Nadella is all about the entire Windows ecosystem - just like Apple. MS wants Win10 at the root of everything being sold - not just silly cell phones. He said as much.

Give me an OS that runs on everything and seamlessly melds my tablet, laptop, desktop and toaster together and I really don't care who makes the hardware. It's all about what's under the hood folks. Get the engine purring and let everyone else supply the chassis after 2 years if they want.

This Nokia crap needed to happen. If Ballmer wouldn't have bought the stupid company then Apple or Google would have. Steve-o had his testicles in a vise and did the right thing.

So get this doom and gloom out of your system people.

 

[Eustis99]

He said Microsoft is committed to making their own phones for at least two years. He never said windows mobile will be dead in two years, unless you read something I didn't?

 

[Awhispersecho]

Yes we are in the phone only mentality because everything that just happened was related to..phones. See how that works. No toaster or laptops, phones. And I 100% agree with you, they had to buy Nokia, if they didn't we wouldn't even have the opportunity to be doom and gloom about WP because it would have been gone already. I actually like this move, I wish it had been their strategy the last 2 years. What I don't like is the incompetence that placed them in this position to the point that they had to make this move.

 

[Allen Rhodes]

WAAAAAAAAAAAA WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


How is MS not releasing a bagillion phones a year the end of WP? Chripes! They cant compete due to saturating the market with garbage phones. Yes, some will say Android does the same thing. Look where the biggest sales are, super low end third world phones. MS is moving to a moderate low end, business class(ya know, cause of Office and Enterprise business.) and a high end flagship or two. I think 4-5 phones every 18mo is great! Calm down people.

 

[Iain_S]

You are wrong. Are you reading the web? I follow 40 of the biggest tech sites and they all say it is dead or nearly dead. With these messages Microsoft has 0 chance. They must give developers, phone buyers and OEMs more than an unsure future after two years. OEMs always made ****ty Windows phones and that won't change so what you are saying is not true. OEMs won't keep it alive. They can easily afford to deny Windows mobile.

don't read too much into these "tech sites", Windows Mobile is not dying(far from it).
The Nokia stuff that happened yesterday was a given, MS only purchased them to stop them from being sold to someone else. Any smart person knew this write down was going to happen at some point in time.
The layoffs although very unfortunate for the folk involved also needed to be done, that's what business is all about, streamline and profit.
The devices themselves had to be cut back to a normasl amount of phones being delivered per year, nokia's releases were just stupid.
MS are not killing off Windows Mobile, they are just streamlining the whole operation to what it should be, not how Nokia had it.
Other OEM's are also developing Windows Mobile 10 devices and Microsoft are cutting back to give them breathing space, similar to what happens with the surface line.


... and as always do not believe everything you read on the internet.