Windows Phone Sales Make Me Sad

[VLAZ55]

I'm with you... I really like Windows Phone 8.1. Onedrive works great. MS is finally starting to understand how to build the ecosystem. There is no doubt that MS sat on Windows Mobile 6 way to long and should have acted sooner when the iPhone came out. I think it is going to be hard to get someone who is already in the Apple ecosystem to switch, and while the Android ecosystem is not as compelling to me, those users have something that works for them and likely will resist change. Here in Canada I think a MS has done a terrible job of prompting WP and I would think that is the main reason WP is not catching one here. I would be only 20% of the population even knows what Windows Phone is! Last time I visited a Bell Mobility store they did not even have a display for the one windows phone that they carry. At the local Rogers store, there is a display in the back corner for the one Windows Phone they carry. Blackberry has a much larger presence in these two stores and they are the two largest carriers in Canada. With Representation like that it is a wonder anyone in Canada has a Windows Phone. MS has to do a better job of getting awareness of this great product.

[patbob]

I agree. It saddens me too. But only because of what Microsoft could do, but don't seem to be interested in. They have the potential to create a device that is nearly the equivalent of a laptop computer and that's small enough to fit in your pocket so you always have it with you. In that vision, having the same interface across the whole gamut of devices makes a lot of sense. I thought that's what they were doing with Win 8 and the tiles, but they don't seem to be following through.

We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.

[Impenneteri]

The problem right now is phone availability. There are no new releases and others are due for upgrade, hence the decline and those who stay are waiting for windows 10.

[James Haddock]

It's real simple. Back in the early 90's Bill Gates dad, a lawyer, with the help of his government buddies created a 'legal' process. Back then Microsoft would express interest in a product to the inventor or company that creates it. They would invite the creator to visit Microsoft and to bring the specs of their product which Microsoft was interested in buying. When the creator went they would have a pleasant experience. Microsoft would tell the creator to leave their specs and that they would receive an offer for their work in the near future. A couple of weeks later the creator would receive a rude phone call from someone at Microsoft telling them their product was not mature enough. That is was not "commercial grade" quality. Everyone was told the same thing. Their product was not commercial grade. Then Microsoft would mail the specs back to the creator. During the two weeks after microsoft obtained the product specs they would give the specs to an attorney. The attorney would give the specs to a technical person and ask them to make a copy of the specs with the wording changed. Then both sets of identical specs with different wording were returned to the attorney. The attorney would then take the new specs with different wording and give them to a programmer and tell them to write the software described in the specs. Software would be created that accomplished the same thing as that of its original creator with different variable names and code executed using a different approach. And that is how microsoft stole most of what runs in windows and the internet. Some people tried to sue. There was even a news television show that showed every step of the 'legal' process Bill Gates' dad created with the help of his government buddies. I have had my work stolen by microsoft in more than one way. I am the inventor of patent 7,987,168 which is the process that taught browsers and apps how to talk directly to web sites without having to type queries or whatever in the site's web page. You use my invention on your phone, tablet, and computer on all operating systems and browsers. Jeffrey Richter of Wintellect, a microsoft consultant back in 2006, mentored me to get my patent application before I told him anything about my idea. Jeff said he was going to help me market my idea to microsoft. When he saw screen shots of inTriever his eyes almost came out of his head. Our professional and personal relationship ended by his doing and seven months later I saw a new input box over to the right of the w

[kcw96]

I've used several Windows Phone over the years dating back to Windows Mobile and started with WP 7 at launch. I also run a small business where most of the users use iPhones. The most common objection I hear is the cost of getting new apps to replace the one's they purchased on iOS. If Microsoft wants to become serious in the market they need to subsidize the cost to replace the apps while jumping from Android or iOS. Would it really hurt to MSFT to off a $50-100 store credit for new OS users in order to grow market share. MSFT should also consider building a team to work with other corporations to build 3rd party apps for corporations. Just like they did with Facebook.

Go Beavs!!!

[MiddleTommy]

First you have to practically beg a sales person to sell you a windows phone so the causal public will never be prompted windows phone is an option. Second we are in a drought of new/any windows phones. I have gone to Best Buy and the AT&T store to look at windows phones many times and they don't even have them on display. You have to buy them directly from Microsoft or online from say Amazon. I think most people who buy new things online go the store to look at options then buy online. If you don't have the options in physical stores you are cutting your potential buyers. So mostly people who buy windows phones are those who know what they are and where to get one. Also they are ok with buying unlocked upfront. I know 4 other windows phone users in my extended family.

[Kirk 10389821]

Mindshare... Microsoft Lost it! Especially on the phones. The problem is that Billy Boy was only interested in the CRIPPLING LICENSING MONEY, not in the technology. Certainly not in the user (Ribbons? Windows 8? Original Windows Phones?) They set out to find a way to sell OS licenses, not a way to make cool products, or change the world. The surface, is pretty cool... But OMG, how many tries did it take? And I would prefer that I could use one as a traveling PC (The only reason I would buy one). So I am not the target audience (we have an iPad). Having programmed to the WinCE (Properly written as Wince, which is what you do when you realize that your .Net Code wont run on it, because it is newer, or WinCE does not support the assemblies)... Ughh. So, you don't have the developers. You don't get the apps. You can't get the users. You cannot grow, you stagnate, start dying, and look for other companies that are dying, and buy them. Find cool technology, and buy them. The one things M$FT has is $$$. That buys it time. Personally, I think that if they don't change how they treat developers and projects, that they are going to be the IBM of this decade (and not in a good way). They could do a comeback. But I truly hope to NOT develop a windows phone app! HTML5 and JavaScript :-)

[TNCaver]

What, is your shop on Lotus Notes? Windows Phone integrates perfectly well and easily with Exchange and GMail. I know, 'cause my current and previous Windows phones (7.5, 8.0 and 8.1) do.

If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.

[Vark111]

It's not the email system that isn't supported, it's the corporate-mandated kill switch that has to be installed in all BYOD devices.

[Trajan McGill]

I also don't like to see it doing poorly, for two reasons, one is that it is a fairly creative, different alternative, and the other is that I'm for more market variety rather than less. My opinion is that most people have entirely missed the reasons for its failure so far to capture much market share. It isn't because they are "too late to the party," that means nothing. Apple was too late to the party when the iPhone showed up. Google was too late to the party, Altavista, Yahoo, Lycos and others already had that market covered. Innovation can and regularly does disrupt markets, and I think the belief that one has to be first to market is mistaken. I think there are two primary reasons: 1) It is called "Windows Phone". That was a stupid decision. "Windows" doesn't have the same appeal as "Apple" as a brand. It says, "boring business product," or at best, "thing I use all the time but don't pay much attention to because it sits in the background." Why would you name a device after Microsoft Windows if you want it to have any appeal in the sort of market that the iPhone is in? Apple didn't call theirs the "OS X Phone", and the largest platform isn't called "Google Phone". They recognized the need for appealing branding that was independent to some degree from their main, existing products, even though their existing products have way more sex appeal, and way more likelihood to get press coverage depicting them attractively, than Microsoft Windows. 2) This one is more obvious, but for a reason that not everyone is aware of: lack of apps. I have a Windows phone, and I'm constantly unable to do things that I used to do all the time on my Android phone, or that my wife does on her iPhone. Everyone knows there is a certain hesitance on the part of developers to jump on board a platform when they don't know yet how many users will be there...and yet there is also a love among developers of being ahead of their competitors on the newest, latest, greatest platform, so there is a bit of counterbalance as well. What everyone doesn't realize is that Windows Phone 8 placed serious restrictions on what applications were even capable of doing, making WP versions of many Android / iOS apps completely impossible. For example, I used to use KeePassDroid constantly. There is no Windows Phone equivalent. By which, I mean, there is no app I can install to open my KeePass databases without having to grant that application permissions that a password manager shouldn't have. How can I trust one of my most secure task

[Peter Adam]

YouTube app? That was only how Google greeted the newcomer[^].

[Peter Adam]

My colleagues were standardized on some kind of Samsung, and Androlag hit them hard: - incoming call without the green button - so responsible red/green buttons that the icons below them were started after calls ... and the coming soon updates. In these days 4+4 cores are enough for Androlag to be useful. Try the low end if you dare :) One-core 10" tablet + Android 4.0 + half year use + 4 newspaper app = memory use crosses 50% and the 4-5 seconds lag comes. Android is everything bad you told about Microsoft, just gloryfied.

[Jfid]

I've been around the block with every phone from Blackberry to IPhone to Android to Winphone back to IPhone and Back to WinPhone. I love WinPhone! For me it is the ultimate device, except you can't run ITunes on it. That seems to be how Apple snared in the young people. My kids started with Ipods and worked up to Iphones...the music library came with them. Getting the Iphone people to switch to winPhone would be the same as asking someone to get rid of their albums/CDs and migrate to a streaming music library (most would recoil at the thought)!

:JeffF:

[Lost User]

It looks like Google was miffed about the lawsuits slapped on it by Microsoft. I would have thought that Microsoft might have been able to pay Google to develop a version for Windows Phone, although I'd imagine the price would have been steep. It still would have probably been worth the price anyway. It's crap when things you've done to others come back to bite you on your backside :doh: Windows Phone currently has that familiar feeling around it that many Microsoft products (even some good ones) have had shortly before they're dropped.

How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.

[Victor Hugo Lara Santillan]

I think WP is better in business environments, in my last 2 jobs, I didn't need to ask for Access to remote email or SharePoint sites, just added the Outlook account and WP discovered the servers and settings. iPhone and Android needed IT assistance.

[Victor Hugo Lara Santillan]

Totally agree, my first Smartphone was an android, and I really hated that, I throw it to trash before 3 weeks, I missed all incoming calls, and the store is full of useless apps. I actually have WP, and all my family gradually changed to it. It can control my entertainment systems (Xbox 360 and Xbox One), Cortana is awesome, and in the job is the best tool. Just a funny story, last week my wife's family lost when coming to home for new year holiday, they have android and apple devices, and they can't find the address in gps, WP with Here Drive comes to the rescue.

[Victor Hugo Lara Santillan]

Agree, I have 4 apps developed by me in my own WP phone, I didn't need to install, just debug directly on phone, and then there is.

[Victor Hugo Lara Santillan]

And apple people don't remember when they were begging Bill Gates to rescue their company. And now they believe they invented smartphones (I remeber using a treo with Windows mobile). I think one of the most important facts is the hipster era, I'm developer, and at work, they believe they are the genius of programming because some of then can use Excel to make reports, or auto-name them videogamers because play candy crush in their phones. You can sell them vegetables soup at $2, or name it potage aux légumes (french name) at the cost of $5. :)

[Pierre Leclercq]

In this computer world dated july 1995 : https://books.google.fr/books?id=aEpNXuyUcfoC&pg=PT99&lpg=PT99&dq=computerworld+netscape+navigator+box+price&source=bl&ots=yWV9Wvn9DJ&sig=GQSCpCCup-LJRVjwMiyU9RfRGbM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-iexVNKvBIWy7Qb9moCwCA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=computerworld%20netscape%20navigator%20box%20price&f=false[^] You can read Netscape Navigator Personal edition was costing $39.95 Also Netscape made some good money. Jim Clark, Netscape co-founder invested $5 million, then earned $2 billions out of it. See there : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Clark[^] Netscape Navigator went free eventually, as IE was catching up. More on the browser wars here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_wars[^]

http://www.BareImagesToolbox.com

[Lost User]

Pierre Leclercq wrote:

You can read Netscape Navigator Personal edition was costing $39.95

Interesting... I didn't remember that. Thanks! I think my original point still stands though. Microsoft needs to make a profit to survive and can't do it simply by giving away the OS unless they make money on the hardware (Apple) or the backend (Google) and there are already established leaders in both camps so they have to leapfrog one or both in some important area(s) to gain market share.

Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.