Here is why I think that Windows 10 is Microsoft's last chance

[Trill Gates]

I think Windows 10 is Microsoft's last chance to get a reasonable share in the mobile consumer world.
There is one simple reason:

With the release of the Nokia N1, it's pretty reasonable to expect a Nokia Android phone. They aren't allowed to sell it before 1.1.16, but they can probably announce it next year, just around this time of the year.

If Microsoft fails to deliver a solid flagship with good hardware AND software, with availability before Nokia announces the phone, I fear many of their customers will go back to Nokia.
I'm pretty sure a high percentage of WP users (geeks, those who build mind share and recommend phones to friends and family) are WP users because they followed Nokia.
If Microsoft losses these people, I don't think they could recover. WP would probably become a niche business product, like BlackBerry.

No hating here, only worrying. What do you think, do you come to the same conclusion? And will Microsoft be able to deliver?
At the moment, I would say it's 50/50...

The best strategy MS can employ with Windows 10 is follow through on their promise of universal OS across multiple platforms. If they can get Cortana on to Windows 8/10 PC's and tablets as well as get Cortana on Xbox One then they'd increase the number of Cortana users by millions without having to sell their souls with Cortana on iOS or Android. They also should find a way to make Skype the integrated native messaging app like iMessage is for Apple. So Windows Phone users can receive/send Wifi texts and video calls across all their Windows devices. So if I'm playing Xbox one and I get a text it pops up on my TV screen and I can have Cortana read it and then reply with a voice-to-text response.

The end goal would be to get millions of Windows 8/10 PC users and Xbox One users to give up their iPhone or Android and buy into the unified MSFT ecosystem.

 

[labsii]

Microsoft is not shifting to low and mod range phones. They will always sell them but high end is part of their strategy as well. Unfortunately they were designing a high end phone (McLaren) that didn't pan out the way they wanted so they scrapped it leaving no high end phone other than 1520 this holiday season. (and 930 for non us).

Wait, was that some higher power that stopped development of a flagship phone, or it wasn't developed because resources were shifted away from it into developing of other mid and low range phones? Or is it only that those mid and low range phones were lucky to turn out the way they should? You know, in R&D things don't turn out the way you plan, that is normal part of the process, it is just question of whether you are committed to complete it or not.

 

[JamesPTao]

Wait, was that some higher power that stopped development of a flagship phone, or it wasn't developed because resources were shifted away from it into developing of other mid and low range phones? Or is it only that those mid and low range phones were lucky to turn out the way they should? You know, in R&D things don't turn out the way you plan, that is normal part of the process, it is just question of whether you are committed to complete it or not.

They were working on 3d touch which the McLaren would show off and was to be a way to distinguish the high ends from the low end phones as no mid range phones or lower would get it. It wasn't working out to their satisfaction so they canned it. You seem really driven on this no high end phone thing. Just be patient next year will show what they offer. Unlike most makes if its not what they want ms will not release it rather than releasing a half baked or gimicky feature.

 

[BobLobIaw]

I have a Nokia Lumia 920 and I like it a lot. However, I wouldn't switch to Android just because a phone has a Nokia sticker on it. For that reason, I think the future of Nokia has nothing to do with the success or failure of Windows Phone. The determining factors will be the quality of WP and the quality of Windows 10.

 

[Pivotgeeks]

This is like the 12th thread I've seen about "WP10 better be good or it's all over".

Let me make this simple for you: Go to Android now. There's no feature list for 10 yet and I've already seen an impossible number of expectations from users here. Everybody whining wants something radically different- It will never live up to these impossible standards.
If you're not happy with WP as it is, then please just leave, and spare us the "leaving for android" thread on your way out.

This i Completly agree
and nope i din't come to windows phone for Nokia and here to stay with windows phone coz i love the os and even tho we are less in number i really like the community and number or the Name of a the phone don't matter to me! or the number of apps..

 

[LumiAss]

MS is very slow in supporting WP. Where is denim? We are on late November right now!
So i think, windows phone 10 will released in 2017. So everyone will leave MS Lumia to Nokia.

 

[ajst222]

I don't understand why people wouldn't buy a Microsoft made Lumia phone if they've loved Windows Phone up until this point. Because they're "loyal" to Nokia? That's just stupid IMO if you want to just follow Nokia regardless of whether they run Windows or Android simply because it's Nokia. It's one thing to use something that works best for you and is your personal preference (Windows Phone OS in this case), and another to blindly follow a brand (Nokia in this case). I doubt people REALLY bought Nokia phones solely for the hardware alone...

 

[Giddora]

I'm with the OS... I've already been with the HORRIBLE mess that is Android for far too long. I'm just happy they get an interface that they've laughed at for the past couple of years (WP's)

 

[labsii]

MS is very slow in supporting WP. Where is denim? We are on late November right now!
So i think, windows phone 10 will released in 2017. So everyone will leave MS Lumia to Nokia.

Well if you think that Microsoft is bad in this, you should try the competition. Nokia phones will probably update never, that's the usual period of update for non-Google Android phones without premium pricing.

You've got Cyan on your old phone couple of months ago, and now you want new update. No one in the world does that... At least because updates require carrier certification process for carrier bought phones.

 

[raqball]

Re the Nokia N1 mentioned in the OP. You realize that Nokia is not making it right? Foxcon is making it and they are simply slapping the Nokia name on it. Also, the N1 is almost an exact copy / ripoff of the iPad mini so it wouldn't last a second being sold in most countries before Apple had it shut down.

Nokia will not make an android phone. A 3rd party will make one and slap the Nokia name on it. If you blindly buy a Nokia device from here on out, you are getting a non Nokia made product with a Nokia sticker on it..

My .02

 

[paulxxwall]

I don't understand why people wouldn't buy a Microsoft made Lumia phone if they've loved Windows Phone up until this point. Because they're "loyal" to Nokia? That's just stupid IMO if you want to just follow Nokia regardless of whether they run Windows or Android simply because it's Nokia. It's one thing to use something that works best for you and is your personal preference (Windows Phone OS in this case), and another to blindly follow a brand (Nokia in this case). I doubt people REALLY bought Nokia phones solely for the hardware alone...

I'm sorry but nokias have always been know to make heavy duty phones. I was a metro pcs dealer years back and nokias were the best phones ! Awesome battery life and they lasted a long time. Do we remember ms attempt at phones......the kin. How was that phone? Yeah garbage.

 

[ajst222]

I'm sorry but nokias have always been know to make heavy duty phones. I was a metro pcs dealer years back and nokias were the best phones ! Awesome battery life and they lasted a long time. Do we remember ms attempt at phones......the kin. How was that phone? Yeah garbage.

Did I ever deny that? Read my post. I was saying if you're buying a phone just for the hardware, you're an !diot, and that's pointless. What you're actually using on the phone is the software. And you're using the Kin, a low end social phone, to judge how Microsoft will do with the Lumia line? Lol. But because you were a MetroPCS dealer, I guess I have to take your word for it...

Re the Nokia N1 mentioned in the OP. You realize that Nokia is not making it right? Foxcon is making it and they are simply slapping the Nokia name on it. Also, the N1 is almost an exact copy / ripoff of the iPad mini so it wouldn't last a second being sold in most countries before Apple had it shut down.



Nokia will not make an android phone. A 3rd party will make one and slap the Nokia name on it. If you blindly buy a Nokia device from here on out, you are getting a non Nokia made product with a Nokia sticker on it..



My .02

I don't understand why everyone here is saying "Oh, Nokia isn't even making the tablet, it's Foxconn". You all do realize that's what just about everyone does, right? They develop it, and outsource to another company to produce it. BlackBerry, Apple, and Microsoft do it that I know off the top of my head, and I'm certain the other giants do as well. I don't understand why this aspect is a huge topic of discussion over this tablet. It's not any different than what everyone else does

 

[anon(8141431)]

MS is doing a mistake by releasing their office and bringing new features to other platforms.

People who are in Windows Phone because of MS's services are switching to other platforms for a better experience. MS is losing ground in WP. There are many who joined Windows Phone because of Nokia. And Nokia just came out with an Android Tablet. If Nokia comes up with an Android Phone, WP will lose people that way too.

The only hope for Windows Phone right now is for Windows Phone 10 to Groundbreaking and awesome enough to make people switch. If Windows 10 can't do that, then no more Windows Phone.

 

[ohgood]

I think Windows 10 is Microsoft's last chance to get a reasonable share in the mobile consumer world.
There is one simple reason:

1) With the release of the Nokia N1, it's pretty reasonable to expect a Nokia Android phone. They aren't allowed to sell it before 1.1.16, but they can probably announce it next year, just around this time of the year.

2) If Microsoft fails to deliver a solid flagship with good hardware AND software, with availability before Nokia announces the phone, I fear many of their customers will go back to Nokia.

3) I'm pretty sure a high percentage of WP users (geeks, those who build mind share and recommend phones to friends and family) are WP users because they followed Nokia.

4) If Microsoft losses these people, I don't think they could recover. WP would probably become a niche business product, like BlackBerry.

No hating here, only worrying. What do you think, do you come to the same conclusion?

5) And will Microsoft be able to deliver?
At the moment, I would say it's 50/50...

1- sounds reasonable to me. a mobile electronics manufacturer would be foolish to not cash in on mobile device sales, or at least attempt to.

2- it would certainly be an option, yes. the interesting part would be, does nokia make an android device, AND a windows device ? i'd bet they shoot for android to have a large customer base.

3- this wouldn't be a good target audience. a) there aren't that many b) they're going to align with whatever-is-available-currently c) they're likely going to have opinions about nokia pre-post the aquisition by microsoft.

4- a better question is, has microsoft recovered from the wm6.x -> wp7, and then wp7-> wp8.x mess ups ? i don't think so. if they had, there would be a much larger user base. does microsoft have a business presence in mobile devices ? i haven't heard of any of my friends in IT deploying wp, normally it's an ios device that is used, or android.

5- well, they haven't yet. it's almost black friday, and there isn't much going on until a possible launch of windows 10, sometime next year.

 

[a5cent]

I don't understand why everyone here is saying "Oh, Nokia isn't even making the tablet, it's Foxconn". You all do realize that's what just about everyone does, right? They develop it, and outsource to another company to produce it. BlackBerry, Apple, and Microsoft do it that I know off the top of my head, and I'm certain the other giants do as well. I don't understand why this aspect is a huge topic of discussion over this tablet. It's not any different than what everyone else does

MS and Apple use Foxxcon solely for manufacturing. Nothing else. For the N1, Nokia apparently designed the housing, the software, and did QA, but no more.

This is a Foxxcon engineered device, lead by Foxconn's project managers, where it is also Foxxcon who is in charge of marketing and after sales support. Although standard industry practice (because so many fall for it), I consider it disingenuous to put a Nokia logo on such a device. That's just how marketing works, but it's not the typical role Foxxcon is in when they manufacture other company's products. This doesn't necessarily make the N1 a bad product, but it's not a Nokia product in the traditional sense.

 

[ScruffyT]

I'm sorry but nokias have always been know to make heavy duty phones. I was a metro pcs dealer years back and nokias were the best phones ! Awesome battery life and they lasted a long time. Do we remember ms attempt at phones......the kin. How was that phone? Yeah garbage.

Well, it doesn't really help your argument that you're talking about a phone from 4 years ago. Since then microsoft has created the surface line of tablets which are highly regarded unless I'm mistaken.

Anyway, maybe due to being in the US, I came to WP for the OS. iOS home screen flat out sucks IMO and I never fully liked anything Android had to offer in that department. Also, at the time Android, at least on my device, was still pretty buggy. Nokia's renowned hardware was just a plus. That being said, outside of maybe the camera, I don't really feel like I would miss much in terms of hardware by switching to a different manufacturer. This is based on both experience, reviews, and impressions.

Heck, I'm actually planning on switching to the Note 4 this year because I need a bigger phone with pen support and unfortunately I can't wait on Microsoft. Crazy thing is I still plan on using Msft services because it seems pretty easy to do on Android. For instance onenote was just updated with full inking support for galaxy devices. I still plan on buying a surface pro tablet when the time is right and I will continue using windows on my laptop until then. If Msft decides to release a 1520 w/ pen support I'll most likely come back mainly because I still don't think there is a launcher/theme on Android that completely suits my needs.

All that being said, I can really understand why the OP feels the way they do. The 'only for Nokia' crowd is a pretty loud bunch on the internet. But I think that if Msft keeps attaching the low end aggressively and releases a couple high end phones for the Western markets they'll be able to maintain a sustainable mobile market share. My question is, how much has the Lumia name grown on its own?

 

[labsii]

MS and Apple use Foxxcon solely for manufacturing. Nothing else. For the N1, Nokia apparently designed the housing, the software, and did QA, but no more.

This is a Foxxcon engineered device, lead by Foxconn's project managers, where it is also Foxxcon who is in charge of marketing and after sales support. Although standard industry practice (because so many fall for it), I consider it disingenuous to put a Nokia logo on such a device. That's just how marketing works, but it's not the typical role Foxxcon is in when they manufacture other company's products. This doesn't necessarily make the N1 a bad product, but it's not a Nokia product in the traditional sense.

Maybe you know the story of Palm, but I'll tell it again. Once upon a time, Palm decided that it is too expensive to produce the phones and outsourced that to a company HTC. Over the time HTC realized they can build pretty good phones based on Palm's know how without Palm brand and that they just need software which they found in Windows Mobile and later Android.

Now this is the same story. Let's be fair this tablet was not designed by Foxcon, and especially not by Nokia, but by Apple. I just wonder what will happen, will on the phone ring from Cupertino production of this tablet going to stop or will Apple look for other supplier.

 

[Ntropy99]

Windows really needs more apps, and different varieties of them..

Like what? Do just want more apps? I find there are already too many useless ones now. Do you want specific apps? Like what. The only thing I want from an app perspective is that when a product is released that requires an app, windows is included with android and ios and for just the reason of this conversation alone. WP doesn't need more apps, they need the apps that are being offered to the other platforms.

 

[FeedTheShark]

That's your opinion. I had a Samsung Galaxy and moved to WP because Android was such a mess - and the fact I hate promoting an advertising company. I had always liked Nokia but I hadn't had a Nokia for a while as their Symbian OS was even more of a mess than Android. I went for WP for it's simplicity and elegance. The fact that Nokia were making WP phones was just the icing on the cake. Now MS own that part of Nokia, it's called Microsoft now but it's the same DNA. I cannot imagine myself ever going back to Nokia, i'm sure they will make nice phones, they still have good designers there, but if they are running Android then i'm not interested. Sure Android has the apps, but even with Lollipop it's still a mess and still cannot compete with WP for efficiency.

Once Windows10 comes out the new phones MS release will be so much more functional than anything Android. The ability to go from phone, to tablet to PC with one OS, all my apps and settings following me everywhere will make it unbeatable. I often feel I got into WP too early, I possibly should have gotten an iPhone after my dabbles with Android, and even now with no new flagship phones on the market I toy with the idea of an iPhone6. But with W10 they will finally get to where I have seen them going and the reason I moved to WP in the first place.

 

[LumiAss]

Oh cmon guys. Do MS ever succeed with their phones project? Do we need is not more apps, but a solid and functionally os. Even sometimes we still have to wait for resuming and never ending loading screen in our 2gb of ram wp phones. This is really annoying and very ugly os performance. And sometimes, if we download something from browser or attached file in email, the file never found in our wp phone. Althought now we have file manager but that case still exist and MS can't fix this problem since wp 8.
The main great reason in wp is just Nokia Lumia, because Nokia's camera technology.
So i agree if this wp10 project is the last chance for MS. But i doubt they will success because the curse and tradition that MS never success in phone business.