Microsoft admits no market share in mobile

[saptech]

I guess this may be an admission of not penetrating the mobile device market.

Ballmer sees Microsoft's 'almost no share' in mobile as an opportunity, regrets mistakes | The Verge

 

[kate]

Getting developers to increase the number of available apps would be a starting point.

 

[mikedt]

Heh... Ballmer is making heavy and importance of the Windows brand. Which I always associate with PCs and not cellphones or tablets.

Think a major mistake is that Microsoft/Nokia only have non-functioning dummy phones on display in the stores. Whereas Samsung, Apple, Huawei, ZTE etc always have real phones on display, so that potential customers can try them out. Can't really see how well Windows Phone works from an inert lump of plastic and a bit of printed card.

 

[redpill2016]

The mobile space has never been more crowded, I just don't see how they are going to get it off the ground. People that jumped ship from iOS to Android are probably not going to want to switch back to something that is so locked down and with limited apps. The Nokia phones seem nice but it's going to hard to gain market share just because you have a 41mp camera on the phone.

 

[Stuntman]

Think a major mistake is that Microsoft/Nokia only have non-functioning dummy phones on display in the stores. Whereas Samsung, Apple, Huawei, ZTE etc always have real phones on display, so that potential customers can try them out. Can't really see how well Windows Phone works from an inert lump of plastic and a bit of printed card.

Exactly! When WP first came out, I could never find a working Windows Phone device at any store to play around with for several months. Then one person at a store had one and was about to let my try it when he realised the battery was dead.

 

[mikedt]

Exactly! When WP first came out, I could never find a working Windows Phone device at any store to play around with for several months. Then one person at a store had one and was about to let my try it when he realised the battery was dead.

That's like...doh!!

I never understood this dummy cellphones on display nonsense in phone stores. You can't do anything with them, they don't show you anything, except maybe giving you an idea of the size. It must hurt sales. Yet that's what Nokia/Microsoft seem to be doing here, in amongst dozens of working Androids and iPhones. UK phone stores are terrible, it's like all non-working dummys on display. It doesn't look inspiring and conducive to good sales at all IMO. If they're concerned about theft, they're all firmly locked to the security system, even the dummy phones.

You go into any Apple Store on the other hand, everything works and you can try them out, all the iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs, etc. NO dummys. They're all firmly locked down of course, so can't like walk away with them.

BTW can actually buy the things.... dummyphones.com

 

[Revenant Ghost]

BTW can actually buy the things.... dummyphones.com

Why on earth would you want to buy a dummy phone?

 

[mikedt]

Theatrical and movie props?

 

[Revenant Ghost]

Theatrical and movie props?

Or play a prank on someone I guess.

 

[Jastow]

Heh... Ballmer is making heavy and importance of the Windows brand. Which I always associate with PCs and not cellphones or tablets.

Think a major mistake is that Microsoft/Nokia only have non-functioning dummy phones on display in the stores. Whereas Samsung, Apple, Huawei, ZTE etc always have real phones on display, so that potential customers can try them out. Can't really see how well Windows Phone works from an inert lump of plastic and a bit of printed card.

Here in the U.S., the only place I've seen dummy phones at is Best Buy. Microsoft store, AT&T, Verizon, and TMobile all have live models on display to try out. Not sure why anyone would want to purchase a phone from bb, their contract prices are same and Full retail prices are more than the carriers (at&t at least). This G2 I have, at full retail, was $540 at at&t and $730 at BB. I think WP's market share will increase with time (it has every qtr) and with the help of more official apps being created. They actually already have many quality apps, Official and third party. The market for non-tweaker mobile OS is pretty big, look at apple who once dominated the smartphone market with a single model. Nokia/Microsoft seem to be introducing lots of loww end models, which is how android dominates the market.

 

[mikedt]

The all dummy phones in a store might be a UK thing. Like everyone walks in the store is a suspected thief, and not a potential customer. One place had them fixed to the wall with big coach bolts driven through the middle. Some places you just can't try anything out at all, not until you pay the money, sign the contract, get it home and charge it. There's like no demonstrator phones.

 

[unnamedny]

Microsoft has no spark. It does not offer anything that Android or Apple don't. That 40 something mp camera idea is ridiculous. It only works for such small percentage of people that its just pointless. Rest just use camera to deposit checks and take some occasional pictures.

They might get somewhere if they start offering some free things with phone purchase. Like bunch of free paid apps, free windows upgrade, extended warranty, etc.

 

[jbm1976]

I have seen fake phones at walmart, best buy, radio shack, target just to name a few and I live in the US. in my local radio shack they have one real phone on display and you can use it to make calls. it's turned on. I have used it to prank call someone. I haven't been in to see if they have a real windows phone on display. I was at target looking at the blue ray players they had on display a few years ago and turned it around to see what all connections were on the back. it was empty on the inside. all the holes in the back were empty. I was like wow they don't trust anyone. the local walmart must bot trust people ether. the power tools they had on display were real but all of the cords were cut off them.

 

[mikedt]

I have seen fake phones at walmart, best buy, radio shack, target just to name a few and I live in the US. in my local radio shack they have one real phone on display and you can use it to make calls. it's turned on. I have used it to prank call someone. I haven't been in to see if they have a real windows phone on display. I was at target looking at the blue ray players they had on display a few years ago and turned it around to see what all connections were on the back. it was empty on the inside. all the holes in the back were empty. I was like wow they don't trust anyone. the local walmart must bot trust people ether. the power tools they had on display were real but all of the cords were cut off them.

Sure that's manufacturers do that, store samples. But then how the hell do you demo a Blu-ray player that's got no innards. Maybe the cords cut off the power tools idea is a safety thing, people might go mad and do a real life Driller Killer or Chainsaw Massacre or something.

 

[Gmash]

Microsoft admits it has no market share...in other breaking news, Stevie Wonder admits he don't see real good.

 

[bjacks12]

I've rarely seen a live display model at a retail store. Perhaps carrier stores are different, but I never go there, so I wouldn't know.
Wal-mart's phones are all fake, Best Buy's are too, except for the Samsung table.

 

[sfbloodbrother]

I respect them a bit more to admit that they are not as heavily invested in the market. Its a good thing that they are making their software for other devices other than the Windows computers. But who really needs office anymore? I have been using Google Docs for 5 years, and I just talked my sister of paying for Office and shes now on Google Drive. She says "Why would pay for this?"

 

[Stuntman]

After WP has been out a few months, they had some phones that weren't dummy models. However, all they could do was play the WP ad on the screen over and over again. You couldn't actually try them out. I remember the first time I saw one of these. I thought, "Great! I can try one out." Then when I tried to use it, I realised all it could do was play the ad and that's it. Not sure if it was a dummy phone that just played an ad or if it was a real working phone locked to play only the ad. Like WTF!?!

The next thing MS did on the marketing front was the "Smoked by Windows" campaign. That was pretty biased as it challenged people to do things that probably wouldn't normally do on their phone to try to beat the guy who used Windows Phone as probably practiced the challenged over and over again. One time, a guy with an Android phone saw one of the challenges and won because he turned off his lock screen and had the proper weather widgets on his home screen. He was denied the prize for beating Windows Phone. He made a fuss on line and was eventually given the prize which was $100, I think.

The only Smoked by Windows Phone challenges I saw that were more legit were camera based. The WP did take really good pictures, particularly in low light compared to other phones. Also, the stability control was excellent on the Lumina phones and took steadier videos. By then, it was more the Lumina rather than WP.

 

[sfbloodbrother]

You can't sell a phone just by its camera.