Posted on 12/13/2010 10:53:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Things always get bad when the analysts come out to play, and indeed, for Microsoft and Windows Phone 7, the gloom and doom has begun. Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar wrote in a research note that Microsoft's market share will continue to go south next year, falling to 7 percent in 2011, down from 12 percent this year.
The problem, Friar argues, is that despite a decent variety of phones (including the HTC Trophy, HTC Surround, and HTC HD7), Microsoft hasn't figured out a strategy for tablets. She writes: "A tablet response is still not forth-coming and our early read on Windows Phone 7 has not yet changed our view that Microsoft's share in mobile OSes will remain at only the single-digit level."
Ouch. While we're not sure that Microsoft's market share will remain that low (they've got plenty of cash to burn on marketing, and let's not forget: they're Microsoft), we do agree that they face an uphill climb in the mobile space.
What, giant icons weren’t the breathtaking innovation Microsoft thought they were going to be?
Who knew? /s
Maybe they can make a Facebook phone.
Phone 7 is for tablets or phones?
I think the 300,000 Android activiations a day, compared with the roughly 38,000 WindowsPhone “movements” per day (we can only guess how many have actually been activated, as opposed to sitting on store shelves and in warehouses - 50% maybe) blows a huge hole in your theory.
Consumers like the Android operating system (and Apple’s IOS) and will buy the quality Android phones that meet their needs and budgets, while leaving the lower quality ones on the shelves. With all the tech sites and consumer reviews out there, it doesn’t take long for the public to know which devices are worth buying. As long as I know I am buying a quality phone, why should I care if inferior models are running the same OS.
Microsoft waited far too long to launch WP7, (and it still isn’t ready for primetime without cut and paste and other basics) and did it on solid, but not cutting edge devices, (with equal or less impressive specs as Android and iPhones rolled out months earlier), and rolled it out with one of the dumbest advertising campaigns in history (Windows: The Phone you won’t really use much!)
Oh yeah, and with, at least for now, a far inferior app market. They even copied the green and white shopping bag Android Market icon, with a window replacing the little robot. How innovative!
As far as I can tell, there is nothing about WP7 that is going to make an Android or IOS user want to switch.
The market is way bigger than the current android and iPhone users. That's who they are really targetting. In a growing market there are plenty of players. The question is which ones are setup to last for the long haul. Being first to market doesn't mean you'll be the best or the one last standing. Microsoft does know how to move into markets that other people discover better than any other IT player.
Calling them giant icons shows you really didn’t even look at it. The UI is really unique and different from the other smartphone competitors. I thought I’d hate it, but giving it a shot I actually prefer it over iPhone. And android well it’s no competition. Android is a hodge podge of garbage.
LOL! Thought you'd hate it? You've been a Microsoft fanboy from the get go, please don't try and pretend you're not.
I do like Microsoft but I thought they made a mistake with the UI to windows phone 7. In fact, I thought they should stick with windows mobile but lock down standards and use that as the baseline.
But I guess I was wrong this time. At least I can admit it. BTW: if you search you can find on FR where I voiced concerns over the UI and scrapping WM.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.