My oh My where are the Premium Windows phones? Missing the Holiday season is a disaster

[Jas00555]

"They might as well stop caring about the carriers at all and sell everything online at microsoftstore.com or amazon.com. I'm not sure there would be much difference in sales numbers. "

This is what I would like to see. Make phones that people WANT, sell them in your own stores (order what you need for said carrier GSM/CDMA), and cut the carriers out of the phone subsidy completely. BYOD to each carrier and simply buy their service. I would 100% support a plan like this.

Then you also 100% support the cancelling of Windows Phone 100% support it being scrapped. That is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. Almost everyone buys phones from carrier stores. To cut out carriers is to cut out Windows Phone's only chance of succeeding.

 

[jfa1]

I always said this and I will say it again and again until Microsoft gets it right. We want premium phones. Someone in MS went down this path of putting WP OS on cheap phones in this scrape to the bottom to somehow bolster numbers of the WP penetration. What has this fools errand done? nothing... in fact while the os is maturing and getting phenomenally better the penetration is decreasing. I am not saying cheap phones aren't important but why is that your target market?


Because that's the driving force right now for the WindowsPhone market. The lower end sellers the 520 in the past and the newer 530, 630 and 730 will sell more units. Maybe even the 830 which seems to be a fairly decent phone in comparison with the 920. Sure it would nice to have whole bunch of high end phones from MS and HTC but they are selling like the hotcakes of the lower end models from Lumia etc. and there's a boat load of new OEMs for the lower end providing competition not only outside North America but also here at home. .

Think about this for a second... You can buy a phone for 200 bucks every two years. That is cheap to be honest. This is why people working at mcdonalds on minimum wage have Iphones. You creating a phone off contract for 150 bucks is NO BIG DEAL. Furthermore, after waiting for 3 - 6 months I can get your premium phone for a 2 year contract for 100 bucks. Now this is even cheaper than the no contract phone.

Hello - this is fundamental Apple and Samsung strategy. We are charging a crazy price for a 5 inch device that is 1000x less powerful than a laptop and charging you more than a laptop. How are they able to do this? With the insane contract system we are on. lol, we all got put into a lease program and now we think this is normal. To us the phone cost $200 - period.

So why the hell is Microsoft trying so hard for this cheap-O strategy? It's a fools errand and proving to be a disaster.

Next, where in gods name are the updates to the premium phones like the 1020 and the 1520. I probably want the 1020 or 1520 update. But spec me out like full bore - blow my socks off - and charge me $250 - $300 for a 64gig device - 41 megapixel camera - cortana. I want to buy a premium freaking windows phone.

Microsoft what are you doing? Why is it about to be the holiday season and you don't have this ready? Something... Anything... my lord.

This is like Halo 5. You had 10 years knowing you were going to update the Xbox. 10 years. How in gods name did you not prepare to have Halo out a launch and a year later still not have it ready. You just fired thousands of people - Instead, perhaps they should have been shifted into helping get these product launches out much FASTER.

And lastly, nokia made some UGLY ****. Let's be real about this. people do care about the design quality and build of their devices... Make design a premium thing in your planning. Funny, I actually think the Iphone 6 is an ugly designed device and would have been an awesome time for WP to come out with a great looking device for such a premium OS that WP 8.1 is.

It is SAD that MS is going to miss this holiday season. SAD

 

[wplee]

The theme of the best 2014 Premium Devices is large screens and metal inspired design. iPhone 6 Plus, Note 4, LG G3, Nexus 6. All 5.5-6" screens. The 1520 is too old (too plastic) now for anyone to buy.

But Microsoft could release something better than say the 830. I would be happy with a 5.5" QHD version of the Lumia 830, especially the dark metal design. I just want a great screen (400+ ppi) with solid camera. This would do me for two years with Windows 10 update. They could save on processor/ram. The screen is the big thing though. Also maybe experiment with more sophisticated colours too. Imagine a Gold Lumia?

 

[OldMillXxX]

Then you also 100% support the cancelling of Windows Phone 100% support it being scrapped. That is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. Almost everyone buys phones from carrier stores. To cut out carriers is to cut out Windows Phone's only chance of succeeding.

It might be ridiculous to you, but it is a thought. The old model is changing. Of course the carriers wouldn't like it, but things are in place ALREADY that make a new model possible. BYOD is already a thing thanks to new rules about the unlocking of phones. I'm not suggesting this happens overnight, but it is a conceivable direction.

Apple will soon be in a fight of their own with the carriers due to their new, programmable SIMs. Carriers have already announced they plan to NOT support this. It will happen because people are growing tired of the carriers having too much power over consumer choice.

 

[waazzupppp]

For those that are using the "Every Windows Phone 8 device will get upgraded to Windows 10" argument... Don't buy it...

"Every Windows Phone 7 device will get upgraded to Windows Phone 7.5..." or almost all of them...
"For those of you with Windows Phone 7 devices, don't worry, we have an update coming for you in the form of Windows Phone 7.8..." or some of you...
"Every Windows Phone 8 device will be upgraded to Windows 8.1. All Lumia devices will see the Lumia Cyan update..." or almost all of them...

With the history of "update failures" coming from Microsoft and the carriers, I doubt that any of the Windows Phone devices will see a full Windows 10 install. I have a feeling that we will see the same pattern repeat itself and a 'relaunch' of Windows for Microsoft Mobile. This will encourage people to buy new hardware, allow Microsoft to refine the Lumia series and optimize it for Windows 10. That again is just my 2 cents...

 

[OldMillXxX]

This could not have come at a better time. This entire thread is about no NEW high-end phones being available, so maybe that IS Microsoft's plan. NEW hardware and NEW software!

 

[jasqid]

This could not have come at a better time. This entire thread is about no NEW high-end phones being available, so maybe that IS Microsoft's plan. NEW hardware and NEW software!

We wont see any high end until next spring/summer with Windows 10. They're dealing with purging Nokia inventories and revamping for Microsoft Lumia devices.

 

[BobLobIaw]

I don't think it was planned, but it might be a blessing in disguise that MS missed the holiday season. The competition is so fierce with all the new released phones, that it might be better to make a splash next spring/summer with a Windows 10 phone. The biggest competition will likely be the new Samsung Galaxy S6, which is much more manageable than taking on the iPhone, Note 4, Moto phones, Nexus 6, and others, all at the same time.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I don't think it was planned, but it might be a blessing in disguise that MS missed the holiday season. The competition is so fierce with all the new released phones, that it might be better to make a splash next spring/summer with a Windows 10 phone. The biggest competition will likely be the new Samsung Galaxy S6, which is much more manageable than taking on the iPhone, Note 4, Moto phones, Nexus 6, and others, all at the same time.

But won't that be worse if customers take new contracts this fall/winter and aren't eligible to upgrade until 2017?

 

[BobLobIaw]

But won't that be worse if customers take new contracts this fall/winter and aren't eligible to upgrade until 2017?

Well, that is certainly the concern, but I think WP needs a true jolt if it wants to be on its way toward the level of iOS and Android. With no flagship phone this fall, a number of people will become impatient and move elsewhere. There are plenty of threads documenting that. However, I don't think that number will be very high--WP seems to be holding steady with the release of cheap phones only. I think a lot of people like myself with a 920 can wait a few additional months so I don't see that the dropoff will be that extreme. If it means losing a small number of impatients but creating a buzz in the spring/summer that can actually bump the numbers up noticeably, that might be a better strategy through accident.

 

[paulxxwall]

Uh, you sound like the guy in the joke who tells his doctor it hurts when he does "this". Just because you (or billions) choose to buy from a carrier doesn't mean its smart or that they aren't responsible for all the downsides.

If it hurts, just stop doing it.

Um the world knows its easier to get a phone from a carrier not unlocked! And that's obvious and I'm good with it! But for us carrier buying fools that may want a premium WP , we've got 2 choices ! Sure there's one more out there but really only one more under sleeves? What would really happen if ms went full unlocked sales only?

 

[MikeSo]

But won't that be worse if customers take new contracts this fall/winter and aren't eligible to upgrade until 2017?

It's not like there's a finite amount of customers that all have contracts expiring at the same time. There will be plenty of customers who are getting out of contracts and/or are in the market whenever the new Windows Phone comes out.... the problem is getting the phone into the stores, so when the customers go there they have something to buy...

 

[LumiaWorld]

Microsoft needs to act like right nowww. Market share's going down down down down.

 

[JamesPTao]

For those that are using the "Every Windows Phone 8 device will get upgraded to Windows 10" argument... Don't buy it...

"Every Windows Phone 7 device will get upgraded to Windows Phone 7.5..." or almost all of them...
"For those of you with Windows Phone 7 devices, don't worry, we have an update coming for you in the form of Windows Phone 7.8..." or some of you...
"Every Windows Phone 8 device will be upgraded to Windows 8.1. All Lumia devices will see the Lumia Cyan update..." or almost all of them...

With the history of "update failures" coming from Microsoft and the carriers, I doubt that any of the Windows Phone devices will see a full Windows 10 install. I have a feeling that we will see the same pattern repeat itself and a 'relaunch' of Windows for Microsoft Mobile. This will encourage people to buy new hardware, allow Microsoft to refine the Lumia series and optimize it for Windows 10. That again is just my 2 cents...

Give me a break they changed the kernal, and had to, and it has been for the better. The 10 transition will be better. That was one of the reasons they changed their kernal was to prepare WP for the "one" Microsoft

 

[wplee]

But won't that be worse if customers take new contracts this fall/winter and aren't eligible to upgrade until 2017?

Microsoft don't care too much about their current phone user base (us) as sad as that is. The reason is if they can get a far bigger slice of the pie if they can get just 10% of iPhone/Galaxy users to switch to a Windows 10 powered premium phone in 2015. That's why their not too bothered about no 2014 flagship and neither is the tech industry as a whole it's gone unnoticed. We've gone unnoticed.

 

[JamesDax]

Microsoft don't care too much about their current phone user base (us) as sad as that is. The reason is if they can get a far bigger slice of the pie if they can get just 10% of iPhone/Galaxy users to switch to a Windows 10 powered premium phone in 2015. That's why their not too bothered about no 2014 flagship and neither is the tech industry as a whole it's gone unnoticed. We've gone unnoticed.

What a load of crap.

 

[colinkiama]

Microsoft don't care too much about their current phone user base (us) as sad as that is. The reason is if they can get a far bigger slice of the pie if they can get just 10% of iPhone/Galaxy users to switch to a Windows 10 powered premium phone in 2015. That's why their not too bothered about no 2014 flagship and neither is the tech industry as a whole it's gone unnoticed. We've gone unnoticed.

everytime Microsoft tries to sell a flagship, carriers get in the way in the US. Remember the 1520 and 1020 being stuck on AT&T, 925 t-mobile,928 on Verizon. Lumia icon in Verizon, and last but not least the htc m8 windows but that is coming to AT&T and t-mobile next month however, it's been a while since it was first announced so the hype has died down. There are no lumias on sprint either. It's not that Microsoft doesn't care, it's the carriers that don't care.

 

[StevoPhilo]

I think 1 new flagship device should've came out just to see how it stands against competitors. It obviously wouldn't do too well with iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5 and all the other competitors who would release at the same time.

I think Microsoft knew this and didn't bother. Honestly why should they? They may make little to nothing on it. Windows 10 will be here before you know it and it's suppose to come Late spring to Mid Summer of 2015. By that time the holidays will scoop up some people with their new phones.

I hope that they manage to make a new WP10 that will turn heads to their direction. It needs to be BIG and I don't think raw specs is going to cut it when you have that on any other phone. It needs RICH features that no one has seen. I thought McLaren would've of been it.

The apps aren't there, but if they can manage to get people to bite then it will come and grow.

 

[cba191]

A 5.5"-6" surface style phone would be awesome. With Qi charging, 64 or 128gb. MicroSd running full windows 10. That would turn some heads.

 

[awilliams1701]

Personally I would be ok with both carrier and non carrier phones. I personally would go for the non carrier phones. There is a catch though. This automatically rules out BOTH Verizon and Sprint thanks to their old fashioned CDMA technology. Both T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM. GSM doesn't give a crap, but CDMA requires approval by the carrier.