The problem isn't one problem, it is many. Some of it is their own doing, and some is perception. This is a short list (and by the way, I am a Windows and Windows Phone enthusiast):
1) Microsoft announces/leaks product information months before they're made available. By the time they're eventually released, everyone has already moved on. Contrast that to Apple, where their products are available the same day they're announced. You don't have time to move on, you're excited and want to stand in a line for hours on end to purchase.
2) People love to hate Microsoft. The two new "flagship" devices are universally hated. People hate the looks, people hate the color, people hate this or that. Apple's phones changed very little. The "S" version always looks identical to the prior version yet people universally praise it. The iZombies hated the idea of a stylus because Steve Jobs told them to. With the new iPad Pro, those same iZombies praised Apple's invention of the stylus, whoops, I mean "pencil". The iZombies laughed at Surface's optional touch cover but praised Apple's when they "invented" it.
3) Microsoft is shooting themselves by releasing their apps first on iOS and Android. Not only are they released first, but when they are made available on their own platform, it is always subpar to the iOS and Android versions. The response from the masses and industry experts is that they go where the numbers are, and the numbers are with iOS and Android -- That is HOGWASH. In the computer world, the numbers by far with PCs, not Macs, yet where is there a version of Keynote or iMovie for the PC? If you want those apps, then you need to purchase a Mac. Get that Microsoft? Why the heck do I want to support your platform when you don't support it yourself, and when you do, it is with subpar apps?
4) No matter what anyone tries to claim, the app gap is a reality. I can't download my church app because it is only for iOS and Android, same with my news, museums, restaurants, thermostats, home automation, audio/visual equipment. All apps are for iOS and Android. None for Windows. That is a glaring problem.
5) Microsoft keeps rebooting the platform. I started with Windows Mobile 5. Then it was 6, 6.5. Rebooted to Windows Phone 7 and had to purchase new phones (I purchased Samsung Focus and HTC Titan). Rebooted to Windows 8 and had to purchase new phones (I purchased Lumia 1020). Rebooted to Windows 10 -- How many times has iOS or Android rebooted their mobile OS? You get the picture.
6) The "Windows" name is tarnished. In the tech world, Windows, for quite some time, has been a laughing stock among tech enthusiasts. Historically, it is slow, buggy, virus prone, crashes frequently, and bloated. Just the mention of the name "Windows" and you're looked upon as outdated and antiquated and not "with it". Not only that, starting with Windows 8, "Windows" resembles nothing like Windows at all. For crying out loud Microsoft, DROP the name "Windows" and call it something else so people don't associate it with the problems of Windows past.
7) Advertising/Marketing - self explanatory
It doesn't take rocket science to figure out why Windows Phone is not gaining market share, it just takes common sense.
1) Microsoft announces/leaks product information months before they're made available. By the time they're eventually released, everyone has already moved on. Contrast that to Apple, where their products are available the same day they're announced. You don't have time to move on, you're excited and want to stand in a line for hours on end to purchase.
2) People love to hate Microsoft. The two new "flagship" devices are universally hated. People hate the looks, people hate the color, people hate this or that. Apple's phones changed very little. The "S" version always looks identical to the prior version yet people universally praise it. The iZombies hated the idea of a stylus because Steve Jobs told them to. With the new iPad Pro, those same iZombies praised Apple's invention of the stylus, whoops, I mean "pencil". The iZombies laughed at Surface's optional touch cover but praised Apple's when they "invented" it.
3) Microsoft is shooting themselves by releasing their apps first on iOS and Android. Not only are they released first, but when they are made available on their own platform, it is always subpar to the iOS and Android versions. The response from the masses and industry experts is that they go where the numbers are, and the numbers are with iOS and Android -- That is HOGWASH. In the computer world, the numbers by far with PCs, not Macs, yet where is there a version of Keynote or iMovie for the PC? If you want those apps, then you need to purchase a Mac. Get that Microsoft? Why the heck do I want to support your platform when you don't support it yourself, and when you do, it is with subpar apps?
4) No matter what anyone tries to claim, the app gap is a reality. I can't download my church app because it is only for iOS and Android, same with my news, museums, restaurants, thermostats, home automation, audio/visual equipment. All apps are for iOS and Android. None for Windows. That is a glaring problem.
5) Microsoft keeps rebooting the platform. I started with Windows Mobile 5. Then it was 6, 6.5. Rebooted to Windows Phone 7 and had to purchase new phones (I purchased Samsung Focus and HTC Titan). Rebooted to Windows 8 and had to purchase new phones (I purchased Lumia 1020). Rebooted to Windows 10 -- How many times has iOS or Android rebooted their mobile OS? You get the picture.
6) The "Windows" name is tarnished. In the tech world, Windows, for quite some time, has been a laughing stock among tech enthusiasts. Historically, it is slow, buggy, virus prone, crashes frequently, and bloated. Just the mention of the name "Windows" and you're looked upon as outdated and antiquated and not "with it". Not only that, starting with Windows 8, "Windows" resembles nothing like Windows at all. For crying out loud Microsoft, DROP the name "Windows" and call it something else so people don't associate it with the problems of Windows past.
7) Advertising/Marketing - self explanatory
It doesn't take rocket science to figure out why Windows Phone is not gaining market share, it just takes common sense.
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