What Is Holding Back Windows Phone 7?

[Brad Wasson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ceklog.kindel.com/2011/12/26/windows-phone-is-superior-why-hasnt-it-taken-off/' target='_blank'>http://ceklog.kindel.com/2011/12/26...t-it-taken-off/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"People ask me all the time why, if I think Windows Phone is such an excellent product, sales appear so lackluster. My belief is Microsoft's approach with WP7 has a impedance mismatch with the carriers &amp; device manufacturers while Google's approach reduces friction with carriers &amp; device manufacturers at the expense of end users. The question is: will end-user dissatisfaction with Android's inconsistencies and fragmentation be strong enough to allow the better product to succeed."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1325536638.usr110171.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>There is an interesting post over at the cek.log blog site that asks the question "Windows Phone is Superior; Why Hasn't it Taken Off?". Needless to say, this is not a trivial question and opinions will be broad. What is particularly interesting about the post is the market analysis that is provided. The post segments the market players into four categories or "sides": users, carriers, OS providers, and device manufacturers. The post continues on to suggest how Apple, Google and Microsoft have interacted or played with each market category. A critical aspect of the market interaction, according to the post, is that Microsoft has thumbed its nose at "both the device manufacturers and mobile carriers. WP (Windows Phone) says "here's the hardware spec you shalt use" (to the device manufacturers). And it says "Here's how it will be updated" (to the carriers).". The suggestion is that this strategy has, to this point, impacted Windows Phone's ability to develop better market acceptance (in particular, actual sales).</p><p>What are your thoughts? Is Microsoft facing too much of an uphill battle to continue on with Windows Phone, or will we see the relationship with Nokia and potentially others sway the market to make it a more viable success?</p>

[Macguy59]

Setting hardware requirements and having (some) control over updates are steps in the right direction

[Mechanicaldan]

Plain and simple. Add USB sync support for Outlook. WM had it and it worked great.

Please,
please,
please
add!!!!

or WM users will go to Android or iPhone, when their contracts expire instead of picking up a shiny new Windows Phone.

Several thousand other people think this is necessary.
http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/suggestions/1549639-sync-directly-to-outlook?ref=title

[Sven Johannsen]

Not exactly independent thought here, but the carriers don't need another phone (OS). Nearly everyone sells iPhone, and they all sell the heck out of Android. What's the incentive to sell yet another option. Foilks think there are plenty of 'options' with the multitude of Android models, if they didn't walk into the store wanting an iPhone. Lets face it, cell carriers, sell phones, and they are doing just fine without WP. Why bother with more training, more advertising, more support, for a third OS? Don't get me wrong, I like Windows Phone, and agree it has a lot of excellent concepts. It does lack a few glaring features of Windows Mobile, that aren't helping it, but those things weren't helping Windows Mobile fly off the shelves either. Actually surprises me how well Android is doing considering Windows Mobile had all the attributes long ago, emminenetly customizable, solid hacker community (XDA Developers), app stores before there were app stores (Handango, PocketGear), OS fragmentation, dismal upgrade story.

I think that MS needs to produce some sort of killer feature, or hype some killer feature, that will make consumers walk into a carrier store and demand a Windows Phone, and walk out if they can't get one. Untill it costs the carriers money, I don't see them spending money on it.

[atlp99]

Hardware is what is holding back Windows Phone.

It is a combination of mediocre specs and mediocre quality.
Of course specs hurt in comparison; single core when dual core processors were becoming the norm for example, but I think it was more about quality.

Of the launch phones you had the Samsung Focus with ATT that had problems with memory cards (because it included a user accessable memory card, which was not in line with what Microsoft had intended). You had the HD7 on Tmobile. The HD7's build quality was noticably worse than it's predesessor the HD2 issues included loose fitting battery doors, loose volume, power, and camera keys that rattled. In addition to those issues, the internal micro sd cards used in the HD7 (not user accessable) have a higher than normal failure rate.

Carriers did not push them because of these issues. As much as many people think the salesman is just trying make money off of you when you purchase a new phone, they generally get paid on the service and not on the device. Sales people do not want you coming back with issues or returning your phone, so they will sell what they see the least issues with.

[Sven Johannsen]

Carriers did not push them because of these issues. As much as many people think the salesman is just trying make money off of you when you purchase a new phone, they generally get paid on the service and not on the device. Sales people do not want you coming back with issues or returning your phone, so they will sell what they see the least issues with.

Absolutely. They don't make anything off the phone itself, relatively speaking. So if they can satisfy customers with what they have, why expand the options? Even if the hardware was better, what is the incentive to stock and support yet another line, unless there is something really compelling about it. Many of us believe the WP OS is compelling, but that isn't the buzz on the street.

[paddysmith]

Add USB sync support for Outlook. WM had it and it worked great. Please, please, please add!!!! or WM users will go to Android or iPhone, when their contracts expire instead of picking up a shiny new Windows Phone. :eek: