4 ms·

Microsoft couldn't get over the hurdle that US phone carriers refused to sell a 3rd option at all, no matter how much money or time they threw at that problem.

Microsoft couldn't get over the hurdle that US phone carriers refused to sell a 3rd option at all, no matter how much money or time they threw at that problem. They could invest in physical retail Microsoft Stores all they want, but they were locked out of the stores US consumers actually buy that hardware form factor from, and in many cases they couldn't even get SIM cards for most of the US networks even if they did manage to convince people to buy their next phone from a Microsoft Store. Against that kind of gatekeeping, of course there is no third option in today's market! It's harder to sell three things than it is to sell two things, and AT&T/Verizon/et al decided that they didn't want to sell three things. (Sure, Microsoft could have trundled on in other markets than the US. They had such a sizeable India marketshare against the troubles in the US, for instance. But when you've already lost your "home" market, it's hard to keep people's confidence. Especially in that case where Microsoft got the biggest marketshare gains from cheap hardware from a variety of hardware partners, those thin margin partners are nothing but confidence driven.)

lotsofpulp 5y ago
Interesting. I wonder how could Microsoft not have enough political sway to force FCC to do something about that? Maybe not force them to sell their phones, but not giving them SIM cards seems egregious. And at all 4 mobile networks? How are Pinephone and these small timers getting SIM cards then?
908B64B197 5y ago
It's also that OEMs and carrier had absolutely no way of customizing Win Phone. Samsung's dream is for you not to buy an Android phone that happens to have been built by Samsung but a Samsung Phone running Android. That's why they try so hard with their vocal assistant. Win Phone offered OEMs the option of shipping glass slabs that were competing on price and specs (just like the PC market!) while Microsoft would own all the value added on top. By the time Microsoft started shipping it's own hardware, it was too late.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  > By the time Microsoft started shipping it's own hardware, it was too late. I think if any company had a chance, it was Microsoft. They are the only ones with the in house expertise and cash flow that could have sustained the kind of spending needed for the 10 or whatever years it required. Of course, it would have required a lot of short term sacrifice, which obviously their executives could not stomach.
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    > They are the only ones with the in house expertise The first windows phones/pockets (based on Windows CE) were already fairly old when the iPhone launched. Microsoft was used to dealing with multiple OEMs, not building it's own hardware.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

Interesting. I wonder how could Microsoft not have enough political sway to force FCC to do something about that? Maybe not force them to sell their phones, but not giving them SIM cards seems egregious. And at all 4 mobile networks? How are Pinephone and these small timers getting SIM cards then?

908B64B197 5y ago

It's also that OEMs and carrier had absolutely no way of customizing Win Phone. Samsung's dream is for you not to buy an Android phone that happens to have been built by Samsung but a Samsung Phone running Android. That's why they try so hard with their vocal assistant. Win Phone offered OEMs the option of shipping glass slabs that were competing on price and specs (just like the PC market!) while Microsoft would own all the value added on top. By the time Microsoft started shipping it's own hardware, it was too late.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
> By the time Microsoft started shipping it's own hardware, it was too late. I think if any company had a chance, it was Microsoft. They are the only ones with the in house expertise and cash flow that could have sustained the kind of spending needed for the 10 or whatever years it required. Of course, it would have required a lot of short term sacrifice, which obviously their executives could not stomach.
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  > They are the only ones with the in house expertise The first windows phones/pockets (based on Windows CE) were already fairly old when the iPhone launched. Microsoft was used to dealing with multiple OEMs, not building it's own hardware.