Posted on 02/19/2016 4:41:25 AM PST by dayglored
Gartner has released its smartphone stats for Q4 2015 and the news is especially bad for Microsoft. In Q4 2014, the software giant owned 2.8 percent of the smartphone market -- not great, but still good enough for around 10 million units sold. In the same quarter of 2015, however, Windows Phone sales fell to 4.4 million, giving the OS a mere 1.1 percent of the total market. That means that it's basically in a death spiral, as consumers and app developers alike lose interest. Microsoft's rumored Surface Phone now looks like its last hope to rescue the division.
The rest of the smartphone news ain't great either, as the overall market grew just 9.7 percent, the least since 2008. Apple, for one, saw a big dip in its market share from 20.4 percent to 17.7 percent year-over-year, which jibes with reports that iPhone sales have dropped after booming earlier in the year. The good news for Apple is that it boosted its share a touch in 2015, and that it's reportedly introducing a lower-cost iPhone to compete in the mid-range market.
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(Excerpt) Read more at engadget.com ...
Microsoft should focus on it’s core business. PC operating systems, and stop venturing into areas where it has no advantage.
Could be that the push of Win 10 and its spyware has made folks lose interest. Given their underhanded PC OS business strategies, god knows what doors Win will open on your phone (that crooks could also use). Especially worrisome if you use the phone to pay for everything.
Microsoft started too late and kept too many people guessing as to its commitment for phones. I’m probably going to get with the LG G5 or Galaxy 7 Edge in a couple of months.
It’s a shame, because I really like my Windows phone. It’s been problem free.
Speaking for myself, I retired my last desktop system a few years ago. But I have nearly 10 mobile devices in the household, mostly consisting of smartphones and tablets. All run iOS.
Smartphones will probably end up being peoples main computers. Combined the phone (as the computer brains) and a desktop docking system with a larger screen and keyboard and storage, and that will probably be the future desktop system for home or business use.
I wouldn’t call desktop systems and OSes a “dying business”, just a mature, commoditized one. I work on big databases on my home desktop system, and even for general browsing, the desktop computer is scads better for anything that isn’t inherently mobile (e.g. GPS) or needs a touchscreen.
Besides that, businesses live on desktops and laptops (which are often used as desktops. Mine at work is pluigged into three monitors, and a keyboard designed for grown American man hands). Microsoft still makes lots of money and lots of profit, and will do so as long as they can hold ontothe enterprise.
I think it’s really simple. There are not enough apps.
That's certainly a factor, and thus the Catch 22 -- in the highly competitive market for apps, what developer wants to write for a platform with so little market share?
It's positive feedback -- in a downward spiral.
Brad Sams this week had a report/opinion that MS is following the Google path with phones. Google has it’s Nexus phones but the big sales go to it’s Android partners. Nexus has only 1 or 2 models, other manufacturers are responsible for the bulk of sales.
MS may continue a couple of phones, Lumina or possible Surface branded, but let it’s partners make most of the models.
IIRC Brad claimed there were 70+ OEMs on board.
The report may have been on TWIT/Windows Weekly, https://www.thurrott.com/ or both.
Isn’t that what MS Continuum is? I’m now really sold on tha except in special cases.
That’s exactly what I have been waiting for. A pocket sized, cell phone/computer with a powerful CPU that will connect to a docking station supporting a full sized keyboard and monitor. The 950 XL was close but Verizon doesn’t support it. I’ll have to stay with my Lumia Icon for now.
Cell phones are getting to the point where they have enough computing power where they can do all that. You would only need a dockjng station to plug in your phone that everything else plugs into.
I guess Amazon phone is down at the bottom of the list under other, and they were giving them away and may still be giving them away.
Microsoft’s “big-brother” Windows 10 isn’t going to help anything. Trust in the company is falling. Who wants to be part of a constantly monitored ecosystem?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s due to the supposed release of the iPhone 7 in September. Why by old models when a new one is around the corner.
I’ve been using the Nokia Lumia Icon with Windows for over two years now and am very happy with it. I like the simple, clean interface and the fact that it comes with MS Office. I have been able to find good versions of apps for whatever I want to do. I do hope the Surface phone comes to fruition at some point.
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