Three Lessons From Microsoft's Windows Phone Misadventures (Nokia $7.6B writedown)

Forbes ^ | July 12, 2015 | Ewan Spence

[dayglored]

With last week’s write down of $7.6 billion, Microsoft has finished the chapter of its corporate career marked ‘Nokia’, and arguably the book titled ’Windows Phone’. With a renewed focus on software the need for a leading phone business has lessened at Microsoft, and the Finnish company’s former devices and services section is surplus to requirements. There is much to learn from this adventure, and anyone looking to make as serious play in mobile hardware and software in the future will find lessons in the story of the third platform.

As CEO Satya Nadella said alongside the announcement, ”We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family, and bringing users into the Microsoft cloud no matter the platform they are using.”

I’m confident that Microsoft will continue to design, manufacture, and retail smartphones, but it will now be more along the lines of a Google Nexus than a Samsung Galaxy S6. It will show the power and potential of Windows 10 in a smartphone setting, it will likely use high-end components to create the biggest experience possible, and it will likely be available in small numbers. Having a flagship focused on demonstration rather than market share is an issue I discussed last week here on Forbes, and it matches Nadella’s statements for a few days ago when he said “In the near-term, we’ll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility.”

...

[lacrew]

They’ve changed their service model to some extent. My last outing was very different. We sat at a table and did everything there. Disabled the old phone, sim card stuff, initializing with my old number, etc. I paid in cash, and the guy used a tablet as a register...and hoped up and opened a hidden cash drawer in a cabinet a few feet away. Then I ordered a wireless charger...and he had to take plastic for tbat. He whipped out a machine and swiped it right there. We never had to go to the counter, which was the center of the universe my last trip there.

[SunTzuWu]

But the point is, the AT&T store was portraying the Windows phone as a lesser device, to be used by the less tech savvy.

That's what an Apple is for. In fact, Apple has built their entire sales strategy on the concept of "tech for people who don't understand tech".