Bob Milliken
Bob Milliken

For some time now, Microsoft’s smartphones have been struggling to keep up with Android and Apple devices. Although Microsoft sells their handsets at lower price points and are constantly trying to improve user experience, the Windows Phone just isn’t cutting it in the consumer market. So what’s happening to Microsoft’s smartphone business? Let’s find out.

A brief history – The Windows Phone was introduced in 2010 and quite late in entering the smartphone game. After acquiring Nokia – a company facing severe losses – for $7.6 billion, Microsoft introduced Lumia handsets in the market. Since then however, Lumia handset sales fell by 49%. Additionally, over 10,000 employees were laid off and the failed smartphone venture would then be sold to Foxconn, a multinational company in Taiwan, for $350 million.

windows phoneReasons for the failure – There were many reasons why the Microsoft smartphone was not successful in the consumer market. Perhaps the biggest reason was because Microsoft entered the smartphone market too late, especially when Apple and Android devices were already starting to dominate the market. While the Windows Phone was a perfectly fine device, it lacked the “wow” factor that brands like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android captured.

Apple and Android already had a wide variety of apps and features available for users by the time Microsoft joined in. So it didn’t help that Microsoft, at the time, had limited access to popular social media apps and advanced hardware features, which is why consumers kept lining up for the latest iPhone. Furthermore, Microsoft’s phone success had only been limited by its low price point and commitment to security, which might be good for business but not for consumer use.

Additionally, the success of Apple and Google was a result of being laser focused on the mobile market, while Microsoft simply had priorities other than their smartphone venture. Overall, phones are just a very small part in Microsoft’s strategy. They are more focused in areas like developing their cloud productivity suite, the Surface Pro tablet, and getting more consumers and organizations to use Windows 10 as their operating system of choice. On the other hand, Android’s operating system was far more advanced and Apple’s constant development of their hardware made it almost impossible for Microsoft to infiltrate the smartphone market. Right from the start Microsoft was fighting an uphill battle.

What now? – Though Microsoft has experienced a heavy blow in their smartphone development, this doesn’t mean they are down for the count. They decided to remove their products from the consumer market and focus on enterprise only markets as their product appeals to value-oriented buyers. I hear whispers about a Surface Phone?
Do you think Microsoft will survive their smartphone blunders? Let us know what you think.

Bob Milliken is the TheITguy@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com specializing in helping businesses with their IT needs and is the partner your company needs to take full advantage of everything that Cloud Computing has to offer.Connect with him at 604.270.1730.