Windows Phone fastest growing mobile OS of 2012?

[Muessig]

Would you like if your car ran without fail at 10 MPG, or would you take the occasional hiccup in durability to get 30-40 MPG? I mean iPhones "just work" pretty well, but if I am going to commit myself to a 2-year contract, I don't want something that JUST works. I want something that will be a pleasure to use.

Not sure this is entirely supported by a lot of people. Sure it's nice to have the ability to play around with the settings of a device to make it better, faster and more reliable but the iPhone is evidence that not all people crave that open system or the ability to play around with their devices like this. Some people really do just want to buy a smart phone and use it everyday as it comes out of its box and not try to alter its performance after that. In my experience on Android devices sure it was nice to be able to flash a custom ROM or kernel whenever I wanted to but in all honesty there's this trademark lag/slowdown after a while that I got with any phone and any rom. The "just works" element has been a great comfort to me on my 920, seeing my device be literally just as fast and reliable as the day I got it after a month or two is almost unthinkable to any Android device I've owned.

Either way I think there's something to be said of both arguments. A phone that does work and perform well out of the box is always going to be reviewed and received well by consumers. A phone that can be customised until your heart is content is going to draw in the type of person that likes to flash custom ROM's, kernels and so on but I don't think it's ever going to be as encouraged on WP devices as it ever is on Android. The more time goes by the more tweaks and different hacks/roms will become available on XDA and other sites for your device but it's also good to know that where on Android I almost *had* to root my device to keep it performing and using the latest software the older my phone got, that on WP I have the option to leave the device as it is because it really does perform well.

 

[ohgood]

At 1% according to that stat, it's still a pretty pathetic figure. I would say long term, for WP to be a viable platform it will need in excess of 12-15% of all smartphones to be running it. Now, remember, this is a volume game also. Microsoft is more like Ford than like Tesla, it can't afford to be making a superniche product. I think android as the open source software is likely to stay in the lead, but if WP gets 300% growth per annum for 3 years, then it will hit 27%. now that is a good figure to aim for by end of 2015.
(however, the stats from that source are weird) - perhaps iOS users have phones which are particularly data intensive..
Nokia for instance (and bb for that matter) tend to design phones which are highly efficient in their data usage.. therefore such figures will tend to under-report efficient data phones, and over-report data-inefficient phones.)

id just like to see nokia/m$ post real sales numbers (not "licenses sold" or "devices shipped"), and exactly how they plan to increase uptake.

bbos and wp fighting for third place will hopefully bring cool stuff to market instead of the current trend of leaning on patents for cash.

 

[LeLee092]

As long as its a positive number I'm happy

Everybody complains and complains, but I dont see us WP users sinking with Symbians and Blackberry

So Windows must be doing something right...

 

[bb10_fan]

As long as its a positive number I'm happy Everybody complains and complains, but I dont see us WP users sinking with Symbians and Blackberry So Windows must be doing something right...

Get a Mac - Bean Counter - YouTube

 

[stmav]

Good to see the blackberry people survived the holidays.

 

[bb10_fan]

Good to see the blackberry people survived the holidays.

I'm also happy for them

 

[stmav]

I'm also happy for them

That was never in doubt!

 

[mpelti]

"fastest growing" is such an apples and oranges comparison when the starting point is so different. Actual numbers are needed to tell just how meaningful this is.

 

[Dave Blake]

Get a Mac - Bean Counter - YouTube

Very funny I always like those commercials but I fail to see the relevance in this thread.

 

[1jaxstate1]

LOL right. The numbers games can be very deceiving. When you have such low numbers, any type of increase will look awesome!

"fastest growing" is such an apples and oranges comparison when the starting point is so different. Actual numbers are needed to tell just how meaningful this is.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

LOL right. The numbers games can be very deceiving. When you have such low numbers, any type of increase will look awesome!

exactly. 0.1% to 0.3% is like a 300% increase.
But whatever makes you happy.

 

[WinFan1]

i understand that you want to be all that you can be as a hacker but unfortunately that phrase is the only one that matters in the minds of practical people. That comparison you gave is not a good one as obviously people wouldnt buy a car like that. Smartphones for the most part are universally similar, and having them "just work" is all that people who arent hackers care about. i suppose if you buy a garbage android with bloat and lag that it would make some sense for you to try and tweak or alter it to fit your needs but realistically speaking no one i know has a rooted phone, or for that matter ever even thought of rooting it. windows phone is smooth and you get what you pay for. Why buy a phone that you feel your gonna have to tweak?

 

[bb10_fan]

Very funny I always like those commercials but I fail to see the relevance in this thread.

It was reply to "So Windows must be doing something right...". They put tons on money to promote WP8 devices

 

[wingcutter]

I would say that 30% of all the people I give a brief tour of my 920 to like it enough to seriously consider changing their phones to WP. That is pretty good considering the majority of people have investment in their phone's ecosystem.

What is also nice is that almost everyone I show it to really likes the WP tile theme.

At the end of the day though, most people can't be bothered to learn a new OS and new phone for marginal differences. These phones, FOR THE AVERAGE USER, all do the same thing. MS and Nokia are being punished for being late to the game. As long as they remember that mobile computing is not going away and that if it takes 10 years to gain market share and minds hare, it will be worth it in the long run. MS can handle the investment but not sure Nokia can...

 

[CheekyTaurus]

Not a sprint, but a marathon. 2013 will see the pace quicken.

 

[1jaxstate1]

This pace will slow down. Its just the numbers game. It becomes much harder to have this type of growth on you get established.

Not a sprint, but a marathon. 2013 will see the pace quicken.

 

[ohgood]

Well, given the thread title, 2012 is over....

all we need now are sales numbers from the previous year to determine if wp is or is not the fastest growing mobile os of 2012.

 

[Dave Blake]

Well, given the thread title, 2012 is over....

all we need now are sales numbers from the previous year to determine if wp is or is not the fastest growing mobile os of 2012.

OH GOOD!

Sorry I had to do it.

 

[AngryNil]

Can't stand the "fastest growing" and "against iOS five years ago" comparisons. Just say it how it is, Windows Phone grows, perhaps promising, still rather behind.

 

[fatclue_98]

People used to complain about Windows Mobile having too many menus and sub-menus, etc. It remains one of the most customizable OS's yet people complained. Microsoft simplified things to appease the masses and gave us Windows Phone 7, which "just works", and people now complain that it's not customizable as much as Android. As my 50th calendar draws nearer, I'm more confused than ever. In the words of today's youth, WTF? The UI is like nothing I'd ever expect from Microsoft and if its users moan enough where others may hear, it's doomed. I'd be wasting my breath if I told all these complainers to go get themselves the convoluted Android dujour or an iPhone and leave us alone.