I think Jim's got this right
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Ridcully Aug 15, 2014 5:00 PM EDT |
Quoting:I think it's time for Microsoft to face an unpleasant reality. Almost nobody wants Windows Phone; its situation in the marketplace just seems to go from bad to worse.A month ago, I had occasion to spend a couple of hours at a Telstra shop in Kingaroy requesting a major change to our phone and broadband links, and we now have the NBN installed and running very nicely. Currently, I'm getting 25Megabits/sec download on a radio link, as against 800Kbits/sec previously on a copper line....Uploads are also markedly improved: 4.5Mbits/sec as against about 250Kbits/sec previously. Okay....that to one side, before I left I questioned the salesperson about sales of Winphones. His response fully agrees with Jim's statement above: the shop is no longer stocking them and don't get them unless they are specifically ordered....Why ? Simple, it's because they can't sell them when they are on display in the shop. No-one wants them or will buy them, so why stock them ? I wouldn't be surprised to see that situation mirrored in very large numbers of phone shops in Australia - and obviously it is occurring else where from what Jim is saying. So what will Redmond do next I wonder ? Landfill and cut its losses ? I've already seen rumours that Nokia is likely to bounce back with Linux on its smartphones at the end of 2015, so that chapter of destruction is drawing to a close. |
| the_doctor Aug 15, 2014 6:39 PM EDT |
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| seatex Aug 15, 2014 6:48 PM EDT |
It's not just that iOS and Android got there first. And even though the NSA has its hooks on them, a lot of people in my area associate MS with the NSA now - fairly or unfairly, more so than any other tech company. |
| BernardSwiss Aug 15, 2014 7:34 PM EDT |
OK -- nobody seems to want Windows Phones. But is that a reflection of whether WinPhone8 is any good, or is it due to other considerations? I have heard from some, speaking from their personal experience, that the Windows phones (eg. Nokia Lumia) were quite satisfactory -- and even in some cases that Windows Phone 8 was the only Microsoft product they had any respect or liking for. And after all... as Linux users... we know all too well that whether the product is actually any good, is often the least important factor in getting popular uptake, market success, or general acceptance by the general public. |
| me1010 Aug 15, 2014 8:09 PM EDT |
My philosophy won't allow me to use any of the current popular smartphone platforms. So I do without one... until either the appearance of Tizen or FirefoxOS in my local area, I will not partake of the smartphone fad... However, it does seem that the current mobile market is a two vendor space. Sadly, both for me and for Microsoft -- although, I would not choose the latter. |
| Ridcully Aug 15, 2014 10:01 PM EDT |
It's possible I may be exactly like you "me1010" in this regard......I neither need nor want a "smartphone" as such. My only need is a true "mobile phone"......I don't want a camera, a playback mechanism for videos or music, I just want a phone that is available to me when I am away from home. So my dear old Motorola clamshell is treasured and it does everything I want......even now, salespeople look at it and exclaim how good that particular model was and that if that's all I need, then I should keep it going as long as I can. I wonder what those "other considerations" are in your view BernardSwiss. You may be right too. The only points I make are that first of all, the cost of iOS devices from Apple is such that unless they are good,.... really good ....they'd price themselves out of existence and Apple devotees swear by the excellence of their devices. So..considering Android, and simultaneously looking at Samsung which seems to have pretty much cornered the market out here as far as I can see, cheaper prices are one thing, but the Samsung models would have to be pretty good quality and reliability for them to continue to be the market leader. "Word of mouth" either orally or digitally soon ensures that a product is rejected if it isn't any good. Given that, then it is possible that the broad majority of consumers out here are continuing to purchase a product they know and can receive instant help from via their "compatriots", Winphones would therefore be rank outsiders and users few and far between.......not part of the "in-group" so to speak. And come to think of it, that's exactly how Microsoft also held and continues to hold the general desktop ? Well, apart from OEMs, lock-in....etc. But familiarity and availability of backup service or help does play a huge part. |
| seatex Aug 15, 2014 10:16 PM EDT |
I just bought a new LG flip-phone to replace a broken Motorola flip. I am also opposed to the "smart" phones. And I don't text - just email and voice. |
| gary_newell Aug 18, 2014 4:52 AM EDT |
"I have heard from some, speaking from their personal experience, that the Windows phones (eg. Nokia Lumia) were quite satisfactory" Nokia used to be the best mobile phone maker in the world. Easy to use, more features than other phones etc. I had a Nokia Lumia 610 given to me and i put up with it for a year. It lacked the basic features of a telephone (for instance call barring). The Microsoft software ran like a dog on this phone as well. (and when i say a dog I don't mean my 2 year old labrador, I'm thinking a 15 year old pug) I had the misfortune of my Samsung Galaxy S4 screen breaking recently and whilst waiting for it to be repaired I picked a phone out of the old phone drawer and it was a basic nokia phone. (It had snakes, torch, radio etc). This phone was great as a phone, had all the phone features including call barring. The battery life was insane. I never had to charge the phone once during the week that my Samsung was away. (Remember this phone was in the old phone drawer and so the battery was many years old). The Windows phone is slow, lacks features and struggles with basic apps such as Youtube. Don't get me started with the Nokia drive satnav application. That thing can't work its way out of a housing estate. |
| CFWhitman Aug 18, 2014 1:05 PM EDT |
It's possible that there is another factor at work here as well. People don't like Windows 8 very much, and Windows Phone looks like Windows 8 (specifically, it looks like the part of Windows 8 that they don't like). The factor that would help unify the success of these products by putting the same interface on them could also be helping to unify the failure of the "Modern UI" interface on any device, even if the interface is good for phones. |
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