6 ms·

Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success. The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft product. Same goes for

by ebbv 15y ago

Your theory is ridiculous. The Xbox 360 was a major success. The Zune failed because people didn't like it. Not because it's a Microsoft product. Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Now whether it's a better product or not is a subjective debate that isn't worth having, IMHO (better for whom?) But to say that they failed because of the Microsoft stigma is absurd.

darrenkopp 15y ago
I love how people like to sit in a tree and talk about how other people think. Did you own a Zune and not like it? If not, then don't say "the Zune failed because people didn't like it" because as a Zune and iPod user who loves the Zune and hates the iPod, you don't know what you are talking about.
untog 15y ago
The Zune failed because people didn't like it. I think people actually did like it, and I think that people do like Windows Phone when they try it. Zune failed because of a lack of visibility in a crowded marketplace (well, crowded in the sense that Apple is taking up 90% of the room). Windows Phone actually has the same challenge, and MS haven't really stepped up their game with regards to promoting it. Yet?
- ehutch79 15y ago
  also, because they were marketing the shit-brown colored zune...
- ChrisLTD 15y ago
  I've seen a lot of Windows Phone 7 promotion, but it's not all that compelling. Their entry into the smart phone wars was so late that they needed something extraordinary to convince people to consider them seriously. Instead they made something marginally better than iOS and Android in some ways and marginally worse in others.
  - untog 15y ago
    I suspect they're waiting for Windows 8 before making a big push. A unified desktop/tablet/phone platform is probably a lot more interesting, promotion-wise, than yet another smartphone.
    - marklabedz 15y ago
      The question in my mind is whether they can sell the resulting "experience" in a compelling fashion...
- Joeri 15y ago
  Nokia is making a huge push over here in belgium. I'm pretty sure windows phone will be outselling the iphone globally within 2 years. Nokia is still a big player outside the US, and now they actually will have a product worth buying. It's no coincidence microsoft is going after budget phones with wp7.5.
  - Zirro 15y ago
    "I'm pretty sure windows phone will be outselling the iphone globally within 2 years." I'm saving this quote. Not to poke fun of you if it doesn't come true, but because putting together a list of "wild" predictions for the future would be pretty interesting.
brudgers 15y ago
"Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it." It's been out for a little over a year in a crowded marketplace. Microsoft's strategy is long term - there is little evidence to the contrary and their history is of taking such an approach (easier when the founder and CEO each hold more stock than any other shareholder). Windows Phone is targeted far more broadly than the competition - from the 4G smart phones of Europe to the data planless feature phones of Zambia.
- oakgrove 15y ago
  > It's been out for a little over a year in a crowded marketplace. It's been out for 16 months. In that same time both Android and iOS had posted much better sales. Furthermore Android tablets have been out for a shorter time and have sold more units. > Windows Phone is targeted far more broadly than the competition - from the 4G smart phones of Europe to the data planless feature phones of Zambia. And Android isn't? Get real.
recoiledsnake 15y ago
> Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people? You couldn't be wronger. In fact, it is ahead of Android. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-right-behind-ios-in-customer-satisfaction-survey/13728 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-... http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Customer-Satisfaction-Survey-243018.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Custom... Windows phones have some of the best ratings on carrier websites and Amazon. There is indeed a Microsoft stigma, and MS is failing at shaking it. When have you seen a commercial for the HTC Titan on TV? It's all iPhones and Android out there except for an inkling of ads for the Nokia 710 (which IS selling well btw, and is the third best selling device on their network). It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp
- pilgrim689 15y ago
  "It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices." There's truth to that. When I asked what Windows Phones the store had, the sales clerk gave me a surprised look and asked "Are you sure you want that?".
  - freehunter 15y ago
    When I bought a Windows Phone, the salesman tried very hard to steer me away. I asked about the Samsung Focus, and he showed me the Samsung Galaxy S instead. In the end I had to just say "is there someone else I can talk to who won't let me walk out the door right now?"
- oakgrove 15y ago
  > Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people? Oh oh...an argument I don't agree with. Let me look into the know-nothing bag of rhetorical trick and trot out the old [citation needed]. It's an oldy but still delivers!
roadnottaken 15y ago
I, for one, would love to get my hands on a good Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7, but despite reading about them for months-to-years, they're never available when I go to the store. MSFT could learn a lot from Apple about not making announcements until products are ready. It's very frustrating.
- freehunter 15y ago
  Apple is a US based company. They release their products in the US. If you're outside of the US, you're waiting months or years to get your hands on the new iPhone. Nokia is a Finnish based company. They release their products globally, and generally the US is lower on that list. Nokia treats the US how Apple treats other countries. It's not that different.
  - roadnottaken 15y ago
    That's an interesting point that I hadn't really considered, thanks. That said, Microsoft is an American company and perhaps they should make their own hardware if they really want to compete in the US phone market....
    - freehunter 15y ago
      There are certain markets where I feel Microsoft has to be careful in. Making Microsoft brand PCs or phones would get dangerous for their antitrust ruling which only recently ceased. Consoles have a long precedent of having the software directly tied to the hardware, as do MP3 players. PCs and phones, not so much. If Microsoft were to start making their own phones and ended up gaining significant marketshare, there's the chance they could be cited again (though not as strictly if they were not actively anti-competitive). Even Apple has come under federal investigation for potential abuse of their iPod monopoly. Apple is an interesting case in that they've been allowed to control every aspect of their system because they have such an insignificant marketshare. Their aggressive actions in the mobile arena coupled with their unbridled success may very well see them in the same boat Microsoft was in during the late 90s.
buerkle 15y ago
Xbox 360 is a huge success based on number sold. Is it based on money made? I know they had massive hardware failure and their warranty costs were through the roof. I do not know the dollar figures.
freehunter 15y ago
I would wager that Zune and WP7 struggle not due to consumers not liking it, but due to the people the consumers get their information from not liking the idea of it. When someone I know goes to buy a piece of hardware, generally they'll ask me or someone else what they should get. It's up to me/other people to understand what they need before giving them advice. Telling them " don't buy a Windows Phone" without understanding them or clarifying why (and telling the truth) is just being an asshole. The question should be "if they use a PC, why should they get an iPhone (and vice versa)".

by ebbv 15y ago

darrenkopp 15y ago

I love how people like to sit in a tree and talk about how other people think. Did you own a Zune and not like it? If not, then don't say "the Zune failed because people didn't like it" because as a Zune and iPod user who loves the Zune and hates the iPod, you don't know what you are talking about.

untog 15y ago

The Zune failed because people didn't like it. I think people actually did like it, and I think that people do like Windows Phone when they try it. Zune failed because of a lack of visibility in a crowded marketplace (well, crowded in the sense that Apple is taking up 90% of the room). Windows Phone actually has the same challenge, and MS haven't really stepped up their game with regards to promoting it. Yet?

ehutch79 15y ago
also, because they were marketing the shit-brown colored zune...
ChrisLTD 15y ago
I've seen a lot of Windows Phone 7 promotion, but it's not all that compelling. Their entry into the smart phone wars was so late that they needed something extraordinary to convince people to consider them seriously. Instead they made something marginally better than iOS and Android in some ways and marginally worse in others.
- untog 15y ago
  I suspect they're waiting for Windows 8 before making a big push. A unified desktop/tablet/phone platform is probably a lot more interesting, promotion-wise, than yet another smartphone.
  - marklabedz 15y ago
    The question in my mind is whether they can sell the resulting "experience" in a compelling fashion...
Joeri 15y ago
Nokia is making a huge push over here in belgium. I'm pretty sure windows phone will be outselling the iphone globally within 2 years. Nokia is still a big player outside the US, and now they actually will have a product worth buying. It's no coincidence microsoft is going after budget phones with wp7.5.
- Zirro 15y ago
  "I'm pretty sure windows phone will be outselling the iphone globally within 2 years." I'm saving this quote. Not to poke fun of you if it doesn't come true, but because putting together a list of "wild" predictions for the future would be pretty interesting.

brudgers 15y ago

"Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it." It's been out for a little over a year in a crowded marketplace. Microsoft's strategy is long term - there is little evidence to the contrary and their history is of taking such an approach (easier when the founder and CEO each hold more stock than any other shareholder). Windows Phone is targeted far more broadly than the competition - from the 4G smart phones of Europe to the data planless feature phones of Zambia.

oakgrove 15y ago
> It's been out for a little over a year in a crowded marketplace. It's been out for 16 months. In that same time both Android and iOS had posted much better sales. Furthermore Android tablets have been out for a shorter time and have sold more units. > Windows Phone is targeted far more broadly than the competition - from the 4G smart phones of Europe to the data planless feature phones of Zambia. And Android isn't? Get real.

recoiledsnake 15y ago

> Same goes for Windows Phone 7, it is failing because people don't like it. Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people? You couldn't be wronger. In fact, it is ahead of Android. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-right-behind-ios-in-customer-satisfaction-survey/13728 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/wp7-ahead-of-android-and-... http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Customer-Satisfaction-Survey-243018.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Phone-Leads-in-Custom... Windows phones have some of the best ratings on carrier websites and Amazon. There is indeed a Microsoft stigma, and MS is failing at shaking it. When have you seen a commercial for the HTC Titan on TV? It's all iPhones and Android out there except for an inkling of ads for the Nokia 710 (which IS selling well btw, and is the third best selling device on their network). It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386538,00.asp

pilgrim689 15y ago
"It is also failing because of carrier stores and salesmen, who seem to be steering people away from Windows Phones to Android LTE devices." There's truth to that. When I asked what Windows Phones the store had, the sales clerk gave me a surprised look and asked "Are you sure you want that?".
- freehunter 15y ago
  When I bought a Windows Phone, the salesman tried very hard to steer me away. I asked about the Samsung Focus, and he showed me the Samsung Galaxy S instead. In the end I had to just say "is there someone else I can talk to who won't let me walk out the door right now?"
oakgrove 15y ago
> Really? How do you know this? Have you gone door to door asking people? Oh oh...an argument I don't agree with. Let me look into the know-nothing bag of rhetorical trick and trot out the old [citation needed]. It's an oldy but still delivers!

roadnottaken 15y ago

I, for one, would love to get my hands on a good Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7, but despite reading about them for months-to-years, they're never available when I go to the store. MSFT could learn a lot from Apple about not making announcements until products are ready. It's very frustrating.

freehunter 15y ago
Apple is a US based company. They release their products in the US. If you're outside of the US, you're waiting months or years to get your hands on the new iPhone. Nokia is a Finnish based company. They release their products globally, and generally the US is lower on that list. Nokia treats the US how Apple treats other countries. It's not that different.
- roadnottaken 15y ago
  That's an interesting point that I hadn't really considered, thanks. That said, Microsoft is an American company and perhaps they should make their own hardware if they really want to compete in the US phone market....
  - freehunter 15y ago
    There are certain markets where I feel Microsoft has to be careful in. Making Microsoft brand PCs or phones would get dangerous for their antitrust ruling which only recently ceased. Consoles have a long precedent of having the software directly tied to the hardware, as do MP3 players. PCs and phones, not so much. If Microsoft were to start making their own phones and ended up gaining significant marketshare, there's the chance they could be cited again (though not as strictly if they were not actively anti-competitive). Even Apple has come under federal investigation for potential abuse of their iPod monopoly. Apple is an interesting case in that they've been allowed to control every aspect of their system because they have such an insignificant marketshare. Their aggressive actions in the mobile arena coupled with their unbridled success may very well see them in the same boat Microsoft was in during the late 90s.

buerkle 15y ago

Xbox 360 is a huge success based on number sold. Is it based on money made? I know they had massive hardware failure and their warranty costs were through the roof. I do not know the dollar figures.

freehunter 15y ago

I would wager that Zune and WP7 struggle not due to consumers not liking it, but due to the people the consumers get their information from not liking the idea of it. When someone I know goes to buy a piece of hardware, generally they'll ask me or someone else what they should get. It's up to me/other people to understand what they need before giving them advice. Telling them " don't buy a Windows Phone" without understanding them or clarifying why (and telling the truth) is just being an asshole. The question should be "if they use a PC, why should they get an iPhone (and vice versa)".