3 ms·

Windows Phone is failing because it arrived three years too late, and offers too little innovation over iOS or Android. This is not a matter of Microsoft "losin

Windows Phone is failing because it arrived three years too late, and offers too little innovation over iOS or Android. This is not a matter of Microsoft "losing the mobile market"... they simply never had it. They don't have the developer support (how often do you see your bank, or web sites, advertising their "Windows Mobile App"?) They don't have the users. Even if their product was materially better than the iPhone or Android, they still wouldn't be gaining traction. You can't arrive three to four years late with a "me too" product at a "me too" price point, lacking the app ecosystem of your competitors, and honestly expect success.

sliverstorm 15y ago
You can't arrive three to four years late with a "me too" product at a "me too" price point, lacking the app ecosystem of your competitors, and honestly expect success. Funny, if you replace "three to four" with "two to three", that's almost exactly what people said about Android.
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  iPhone release, 2007, SDK release, 2008 Android release October 2008 (HTC Dream) There's a big difference in tech between one year and three years, especially when we're talking about the V1 of a product type. Additionally, Android offered developers, manufacturers and carriers options that they simply didn't get from iPhones. So far, I haven't seen anything that says Microsoft is providing something really new to any of those stakeholders, aside from a license fee.
- latch 15y ago
  Really? I think most people in the know suspected (at the very least) that Android's openness and price tag was going to make it a winner with manufacturer's and carriers. Remember that iPhone was AT&T exclusive and every other US carrier was scrambling for a "solution". More importantly, when Android came out, the bottom of the market was still wide-open as was the more niche market of people who wanted an open phone. That's the point the article is making. WP didn't come out too late after the iPhone or Android, it came out too late after BOTH.
- gcp 15y ago
  Android phones are not at a "me too" price point compared to iPhones.
  - whamill 15y ago
    Most of the real headline grabbing ones are. Droid Razr, Galaxy Nexus, Sensation XE, Galaxy S2, they're all in and around the same price point. And these are the ones the marketing material uses to pitch against the iPhone for the top end.
    - moe 15y ago
      they're all in and around the same price point Not quite. The current top-of-the-line android (Nexus) is 20% cheaper than the iPhone 4S right on release. Android handsets also tend to fall in price rather quickly because they go through 2-3 release-cycles during one iPhone release-cycle. The Nexus will likely drop to half of today's price before the next iPhone is released.
      - whamill 15y ago
        Those weren't the prices I saw in the US or here in the UK. Verizon launch price for Galaxy Nexus: $299 on 24-month contract. Verizon launch price for iPhone 4S: $199 [16GB], $299 [32GB] on 24-month contract. Sim-free pricing in UK was £500 for Galaxy Nexus and £500 for 16GB iPhone 4S. I do agree that Android phones don't keep their value as well as the iPhone line does. And obviously carriers and retailers are less likely to do iPhone 'deals'. I'm not picking sides for any OS here, just saying that the top end Android phones are no cheaper than the iPhone.
        moe 15y ago
        Interesting, in germany the prices are (converted from €): Nexus = £415, iPhone4 = £522. I had assumed the price-delta would be similar in other countries. Either way, I think we can agree that in the midst of an iPhone cycle (~6mo after release) you are pretty much guaranteed to get superior android hardware for the same money. This is not new and has been irrelevant for the longest time because the Android-OS was never a match to iOS. However, this latter part has now changed with ICS (and I'm saying that as the guy who ranted about the android shortcomings to no end). The next iPhone will need to be a significant upgrade if Apple wants to retain their dominance in the premium segment. Another Siri is not going to cut it.
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  Android appeared in a world where there was only one company making an OS for one phone, with no other competition in the "touchscreen smartphone market". WP7 arrives in a world that is saturated by both Android phones and iPhones. Not the same thing at all. I'd say it's more like Linux arriving after Windows already dominated the market.
- zmonkeyz 15y ago
  Exactly. My only problem with Windows phones is that the choice of handsets is too inconsistent from provider to provider. I'd love to get my hands on that new Samsung Focus S but I don't want to deal with AT&T. With Android the same handset can appear on multiple providers making the choice easier.
jinushaun 15y ago
If you look at any of the mobile marketshare charts, you will see that MS never had the mobile market to begin with. They were always way behind Palm, BB, iOS or Android. MS was always a third place platform in mobile.

sliverstorm 15y ago

You can't arrive three to four years late with a "me too" product at a "me too" price point, lacking the app ecosystem of your competitors, and honestly expect success. Funny, if you replace "three to four" with "two to three", that's almost exactly what people said about Android.

tomkarlo 15y ago
iPhone release, 2007, SDK release, 2008 Android release October 2008 (HTC Dream) There's a big difference in tech between one year and three years, especially when we're talking about the V1 of a product type. Additionally, Android offered developers, manufacturers and carriers options that they simply didn't get from iPhones. So far, I haven't seen anything that says Microsoft is providing something really new to any of those stakeholders, aside from a license fee.
latch 15y ago
Really? I think most people in the know suspected (at the very least) that Android's openness and price tag was going to make it a winner with manufacturer's and carriers. Remember that iPhone was AT&T exclusive and every other US carrier was scrambling for a "solution". More importantly, when Android came out, the bottom of the market was still wide-open as was the more niche market of people who wanted an open phone. That's the point the article is making. WP didn't come out too late after the iPhone or Android, it came out too late after BOTH.
gcp 15y ago
Android phones are not at a "me too" price point compared to iPhones.
- whamill 15y ago
  Most of the real headline grabbing ones are. Droid Razr, Galaxy Nexus, Sensation XE, Galaxy S2, they're all in and around the same price point. And these are the ones the marketing material uses to pitch against the iPhone for the top end.
  - moe 15y ago
    they're all in and around the same price point Not quite. The current top-of-the-line android (Nexus) is 20% cheaper than the iPhone 4S right on release. Android handsets also tend to fall in price rather quickly because they go through 2-3 release-cycles during one iPhone release-cycle. The Nexus will likely drop to half of today's price before the next iPhone is released.
    - whamill 15y ago
      Those weren't the prices I saw in the US or here in the UK. Verizon launch price for Galaxy Nexus: $299 on 24-month contract. Verizon launch price for iPhone 4S: $199 [16GB], $299 [32GB] on 24-month contract. Sim-free pricing in UK was £500 for Galaxy Nexus and £500 for 16GB iPhone 4S. I do agree that Android phones don't keep their value as well as the iPhone line does. And obviously carriers and retailers are less likely to do iPhone 'deals'. I'm not picking sides for any OS here, just saying that the top end Android phones are no cheaper than the iPhone.
      - moe 15y ago
        Interesting, in germany the prices are (converted from €): Nexus = £415, iPhone4 = £522. I had assumed the price-delta would be similar in other countries. Either way, I think we can agree that in the midst of an iPhone cycle (~6mo after release) you are pretty much guaranteed to get superior android hardware for the same money. This is not new and has been irrelevant for the longest time because the Android-OS was never a match to iOS. However, this latter part has now changed with ICS (and I'm saying that as the guy who ranted about the android shortcomings to no end). The next iPhone will need to be a significant upgrade if Apple wants to retain their dominance in the premium segment. Another Siri is not going to cut it.
nextparadigms 15y ago
Android appeared in a world where there was only one company making an OS for one phone, with no other competition in the "touchscreen smartphone market". WP7 arrives in a world that is saturated by both Android phones and iPhones. Not the same thing at all. I'd say it's more like Linux arriving after Windows already dominated the market.
zmonkeyz 15y ago
Exactly. My only problem with Windows phones is that the choice of handsets is too inconsistent from provider to provider. I'd love to get my hands on that new Samsung Focus S but I don't want to deal with AT&T. With Android the same handset can appear on multiple providers making the choice easier.

jinushaun 15y ago

If you look at any of the mobile marketshare charts, you will see that MS never had the mobile market to begin with. They were always way behind Palm, BB, iOS or Android. MS was always a third place platform in mobile.