Does it matter to YOU if Microsoft Mobile dies (or is dead)

Chintan Gohel

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Doom and gloom posts are many and widespread, no denying that

Here are the facts as I see it:
  1. Windows 10 mobile is released for new phones but under constant development to upgrade older phones
  2. Developing for W10M is still ongoing and will before some time as many news seem to indicate
  3. New 3rd party hardware manufacturers are releasing new handsets with W10M, latest being VAIO
  4. Lumia sales have reduced in the past year or so

Now kindly answer these questions before replying to this thread. Or at least go through these questions and musings before rattling off another W10M is dead post

  1. Are you a Microsoft employee directly or indirectly working in the mobile division or W10M OS development team? If yes, then your job could be at stake if W10M fails and no units are sold.
  2. Are you a person working directly or indirectly at a Nokia/Microsoft customer care centre? If yes, then if MS mobile fails, you could be out of a job.
  3. Are you a Microsoft salesperson working directly or indirectly with the MS mobile division? If yes, then your job could be on the line in the future if the mobile division is cancelled due to low sales
  4. Are you shareholder of MS shares? If yes and your shares portfolio is strictly MS only, then your future shares value could drop by a tiny margin if W10M dies
  5. Are you MS store employee or indirectly work at a MS store selling MS products? If yes, your livelihood could potentially be at risk if W10M is declared dead and buried
  6. Are you a worker at MS repair centres for Windows mobiles? If yes, then your earnings could reduce in the future due to reduced sales and eventual zero sales of Lumia handsets
  7. Are you a MS app developer who depends entirely or nearly entirely on your app revenue from windows mobile apps? If yes, then your source of revenue might reduce if MS mobile sales plummet to 0

If however you are none of these, then why should it matter to you that Windows mobile sales have fallen?
You could be a student or an office worker or an electrician or an architect or a retired army major or anything except those above. So if MS sells 4.5 million phones or 45 million, why should it affect you?

You have a windows phone already, don't you? It's working, isn't it? Even if it doesn't work any more, you can always get a new one, right? The only time you will need to be worried is if all worldwide sales were cancelled and all windows phone stocks were destroyed and all spare parts were also destroyed. Then and only then will you need to start worrying

And you know what? My lumia still works. My local customer care centre still exists. The telcom companies still support windows phones. The local mobile stores still sell windows phones.

So kindly reconsider declaring that windows mobile is dead. It's not. It is plain to see it is not. Just this week we got 10586.71 build and there is a rumour of build 10586.104 next week. The platform is evolving, not dying.

Take this analogy of the caterpillar. MS has collected a lot of information on how to get the mobile right. It's digesting and changing. Right now it is in the pupal stage. Do we know what is inside? We kind of do because of insider program. Do we know the final form? No, we can't know now. The butterfly has yet to fully develop and sprout the wings.

Let the butterfly develop and grow. Shouting at it while it is developing in the chrysalis that it is dead or dying does not help.

So be patient, be observant and thank you
 

justonlumia

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Anyone who has a job tied to the fate of windows phone would rather be spending time looking for a new job than come and rant on a board which will further deteriorate his situation

The rants are from some customers of WP, people who want to try WP, people who just like to have fun in forums etc

Its just like how you are defending Microsoft with this topic frustrated with the negative posts, in a similar fashion they are ranting about Microsoft as a disgruntled customer with a phone which has no updates/features coming on WP8 with the promise of W10M while Microsoft stays silent. The premature release of W10M phones adding more people on the frustrated list.

All this will go away by itself once the expected potential of W10M picks up sometime in the future
 

Kevin Rush

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Re: Chinton Gohel,
Thank you. I agree.
.
People exaggerate and use the word "dead". Dead is defined as non-functioning. I know, they are just exaggerating to make a point, for a purpose. I wonder, what is that purpose?
.
The average person who just wants a phone, and doesn't check Windows Central ten times a day, is uninformed, and will likely be put off by such comments.
.
Think about what you say and do.
 
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Br1t

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So I can answer no to all your questions, never declared the platform is dead, yet I still care greatly about the fall in sales. Why? Here's my answer.

The short answer is that I care, I like and want to use Windows but it's success is in jeopardy. I don't want to use another platform but at what point is the sacrifice worth it. I guess we individually need to ask ourselves what are the sacrifices Vs other platforms. For me it's been the scattershot hardware deployment leaving myself and others without hardware upgrade options at times. And secondarily the app development situation which is restricted directly by windows market share. That's highly subjective, where it's and issue for me it's not for others. It's something I've had to tolerate in using windows rather than enjoy. I want that to change and the only thing that changes it is sales and market share. So this is why is matters to me.
 

PepperdotNet

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George Washington is dead. Thomas Jefferson is dead. Martin Luther King is dead. Yet their influence is still with us. This is the proper usage of the term "dead."

To declare a computing platform "dead" which still has many active users, and is still in active development and support, is premature at best, and wishful thinking at worst.
 

xandros9

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I'd call Windows Mobile as on life support, BlackBerry 10 as dying, webOS as mummified and Palm OS as definitely dead.

I don't have ties to Microsoft or the OSes success, but after BB10 and webOS, Windows Phone 8 was the last major player I found compelling in the way it worked.
 

ScrubbyXD

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Bottom line for me is Microsoft is doing what they said they would. In the end if the platform was going to grow the needed things have been accomplished.

By Microsoft limiting releases OEMs can now sell their own phones with a price advantage on the platform.

As requirements for continuum shrink, more companies can bring phones to more markets that differentiate from ubiquitous android.

And of course people on the low end like myself have a real choice beyond spam. Some people don't like spam and without windows phone that's the only choice.( see Monty Python's Spam skit as it perfectly shows what choice we would really have.)
 

DarthVedder

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I don't get this. Of course we care, even if we are not employees or have a financial stake.

Why I care:

1. I like the platform and I want to see it grow and succeed. Microsoft might still be (barely) working on it, but without new users the platform will never be attractive to independent developers and we will never get new experiences with our phones. Sure, I can receive emails, take pictures, make calls and text just fine, but I wan't to be able to do far more than that.
2. Yes, my Icon still works fine and I can still use it. But it is supposed to be a modern flagship smartphone, so I wan't to be able to do with it the same things other people do with their flagship phones, and I just can't. That affects me.
 

WillysJeepMan

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Doom and gloom posts are many and widespread, no denying that

Here are the facts as I see it:
  1. Windows 10 mobile is released for new phones but under constant development to upgrade older phones
  2. Developing for W10M is still ongoing and will before some time as many news seem to indicate
  3. New 3rd party hardware manufacturers are releasing new handsets with W10M, latest being VAIO
  4. Lumia sales have reduced in the past year or so

Now kindly answer these questions before replying to this thread. Or at least go through these questions and musings before rattling off another W10M is dead post

  1. Are you a Microsoft employee directly or indirectly working in the mobile division or W10M OS development team? If yes, then your job could be at stake if W10M fails and no units are sold.
  2. Are you a person working directly or indirectly at a Nokia/Microsoft customer care centre? If yes, then if MS mobile fails, you could be out of a job.
  3. Are you a Microsoft salesperson working directly or indirectly with the MS mobile division? If yes, then your job could be on the line in the future if the mobile division is cancelled due to low sales
  4. Are you shareholder of MS shares? If yes and your shares portfolio is strictly MS only, then your future shares value could drop by a tiny margin if W10M dies
  5. Are you MS store employee or indirectly work at a MS store selling MS products? If yes, your livelihood could potentially be at risk if W10M is declared dead and buried
  6. Are you a worker at MS repair centres for Windows mobiles? If yes, then your earnings could reduce in the future due to reduced sales and eventual zero sales of Lumia handsets
  7. Are you a MS app developer who depends entirely or nearly entirely on your app revenue from windows mobile apps? If yes, then your source of revenue might reduce if MS mobile sales plummet to 0

If however you are none of these, then why should it matter to you that Windows mobile sales have fallen?
You could be a student or an office worker or an electrician or an architect or a retired army major or anything except those above. So if MS sells 4.5 million phones or 45 million, why should it affect you?

You have a windows phone already, don't you? It's working, isn't it? Even if it doesn't work any more, you can always get a new one, right? The only time you will need to be worried is if all worldwide sales were cancelled and all windows phone stocks were destroyed and all spare parts were also destroyed. Then and only then will you need to start worrying

And you know what? My lumia still works. My local customer care centre still exists. The telcom companies still support windows phones. The local mobile stores still sell windows phones.

So kindly reconsider declaring that windows mobile is dead. It's not. It is plain to see it is not. Just this week we got 10586.71 build and there is a rumour of build 10586.104 next week. The platform is evolving, not dying.

Take this analogy of the caterpillar. MS has collected a lot of information on how to get the mobile right. It's digesting and changing. Right now it is in the pupal stage. Do we know what is inside? We kind of do because of insider program. Do we know the final form? No, we can't know now. The butterfly has yet to fully develop and sprout the wings.

Let the butterfly develop and grow. Shouting at it while it is developing in the chrysalis that it is dead or dying does not help.

So be patient, be observant and thank you
Quite an apologetic piece. I find your attitude regarding customers cavalier and shortsighted.

Many criticize Apple customers for being "sheep"... they accuse Apple customers of being mindless followers at best, or shallow fashion-seekers as worst. Nowhere in the equation is there consideration that customers are loyal to Apple because of the products they offer and the follow-on service and support. Of course you can point out areas where Apple has fallen short. But the important point is, Apple doesn't have to be perfect... they just have to be better than their competition.

You can flippantly dismiss the concerns of customers of Windows Mobile devices... or worse, claim that their concerns are not valid. But that will have a ripple effect into other areas of Microsoft's business. How many people who have been left high-and-dry by Microsoft are not only no longer Microsoft customers, but have influenced others to consider the alternatives.

In these highly competitive markets no company can afford to brush off customers.

Your claim that "Windows mobile is not dead" rings hollow. The same thing can technically be said for the Surface RT and Surface 2. But it would be foolish for anyone to buy one at regular price now.

But I get it, it is easier to try to get customers to lower the bar of their expectations than it is to get Microsoft to raise the bar on what they deliver.
 

fatclue_98

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Dead in the marketplace is when the product is so obsolete that there are no spare parts, will not function with any current standard and it's limited to collector status. As far as I know, only analog phones fit this bill. Windows Mobile (WinCE), Symbian, BlackBerry OS 7 and webOS still have functional email clients and web browsers while PalmOS Treos & Centros can still make phone calls. Think about that before calling Windows Mobile 10 dead.
 

xandros9

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so the only defense left is to argue semantics and the meaning of the word "dead"... This is really where we are.

not really.

If I called iOS dead and people pointed out how dead didn't really cover it then that doesn't mean iOS's only defense is whether dead means this or that.
 

fatclue_98

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Ask WebOS users whether it mattered to them when that platform died.
I am one of those webOS users. It's not a primary device anymore but my Pre3 still works fine for many tasks. Still does Exchange email better than anything else before or since.
 

Guytronic

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Partially shelved or reduced effort may fit better than "dead" from what I read.

Who knows what Microsoft's intent is at this point.
If they get out of the phone manufacturing business and move to support only for the mobile OS I don't believe that would be an expensive program.
With any luck up and coming hardware manufacturers may embrace WM and help it run circles around Microsoft's earlier effort.
 

ScrubbyXD

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Your claim that "Windows mobile is not dead" rings hollow. The same thing can technically be said for the Surface RT and Surface 2. But it would be foolish for anyone to buy one at regular price now.

You were doing so well until you got here. You cannot equate products out of manufacture with an OS that is not being developed with products currently being developed, with new ones announced as recently as yesterday with an OS that is actively being developed. Implying that they are equally both dead is ludicrous.

Apple fans,
Not everyone can afford your beloved Apple products. For those who cannot(or will not), we have few options and we appreciate windows being one of them. Now I realize for people such as yourself consider us "poor people" beneath your notice. Is it dead to you? Fine. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

"Windows Phone is dead" people,
Please stop trying to dissuade developers or OEMs who may choose to support the only viable alternative to Spam (read android). That is all this "Dead" bullstuff does.

I know my comments are inflammatory but consider I realize some may not mean "windows phone is dead" in that way. However, the whole thing is dismissive of the opinions and choices of people who do not have the choice of Apple and face the possibility of only one choice. Those who (as I have said) find Windows Phone a viable and preferable alternative to ubiquitous Android and Big Brother Google. The argument smells of arrogance and I'm out of patience with it.
 

Kram Sacul

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Windows Phone is not dead. I use it every day on my 3 Lumia devices. Even if MS were to pull the plug on the store it would still be my favorite OS and live on as the really great OS that didn't catch on.

Windows Mobile... I have no idea. Never used it and have no interest in it. From what I've heard I'm not missing much.
 

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