Is the Windows phone dead?

Windows Phones Cling To Just 0.1 Percent Global Market Share As Microsoft Ignores Mobile
 

"Windows Phone shipments continue to fall as the lack of new hardware partners, developer support, and overall enthusiasm for the platform show no immediate signs of recovery. IDC expects 2017 volumes to decline 80.9 percent to just 1.1 million units. Microsoft has yet to fully commit to any 'Surface'-style attack for smartphones or to push new vendors to embrace the platform, leaving little hope of mounting a full scaled comeback in the years to come," IDC said.

Microsoft will not admit this publicly, but Windows Phone is simply not a priority. The company's efforts in the hardware space are much more focused on 2-in-1 devices and, more recently, its first ever all-in-one, the Surface AIO. It is also preoccupied with its Xbox One console. But if you care to ask Microsoft about Windows Phone, the company will tell you that it is still committed to supporting the platform for the foreseeable future.

 

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I think it's a Catch-22 problem. Less market share = less development. Less development = less market share.

I used to respect the Microsoft smartphones for, if I'm not mistaken, the fact that some of them had this docking availability where you could dock your phone in a docking station which would charge it and output the screen to an external monitor, slightly changing the UI for more of a PC look. You could then connect via Bluetooth a wireless keyboard and a touch-pad or a Bluetooth mouse, if you were seeking more precision, and effectively turn your smartphone into a tower PC, which with the SoC power of today's smartphones would not be a rocky experience, if you were just a regular, light user who mostly browses the Web and such.

However, with the introduction of basically the same functionality in the Samsung Galaxy S8, I see no reason, apart from a strictly financial or sentimental one, for anyone to purchase a Microsoft smartphone over a Samsung Galaxy S8.

My 2 cents.

When I first saw this topic my first reaction was, "You've got to be living under a rock if you don't know the answer to this question is an emphatic 'Yes'."

That's still my reaction many hours later.   A doornail is less dead than the Windows Phone.  And, for once it's actually refreshing to see a technology giant realize that throwing good effort and money after bad is foolish.

Having been employed by AT&T during the era when they acquired NCR and thought they'd get into the computer hardware business I've watched, up close and personal, what happens when these fools errands are not abandoned.

"Is the Windows phone dead?" - probably - but mine's going to have to last a while as I'm not prepared to have anything Apple & I don't much like Android..................

I'm not entirely sure, I personally love the Windows (lumia) phones! I hope to see them rise in the upcoming years.

I love my Windows phone (Windows 10 Mobile installed). The old Lumia 920 works well and I have no intention of replacing it any time soon (unless it explodes). Is Windows phones dead, probably. But I'll keep mine until it dies.

I cant for the life of me understand why they are not more important for people like me who use it for business.

No i dont need a ton of apps or fart noise apps, and or candy crush.

I need VPN, Emails, Hotspot, Wifi, and MMS, SMS, Camera and obviously make a call.

Thats IT. I will use my Windows phone till the day it dies.

We have rolled out winphones but now we cant afford to give our guys and girls all iphones and we ban androids like the plague.

Androids are completely banned on my network lol and iphones have too many exploits that NSA etc use.

Edited by JohnnyJammer, 29 August 2017 - 04:56 PM.

I agree with what you wrote, Johnny, but aren't all the things that you've listed available on even the cheapest Android smartphones? What's the point of using your Windows device over an Android one apart from personal preference?

I agree with what you wrote, Johnny, but aren't all the things that you've listed available on even the cheapest Android smartphones? What's the point of using your Windows device over an Android one apart from personal preference?

Comes down to what closed echo system you like, some like iphones and they are great but massively over priced.

Windows phones has a similar adoption (But really cheap) where code needs to be reviewed and the store is thoroughly checked for malware etc, android is basically an open house.

With spam bots creating fake reviews and making the 5 star rating seem almost like a godsend, its easy to manipulate the human mind and trick it to downloading a banking trojan which over shadows any login page etc and logs all key strokes from the phone.

Go to ESET's website called https://www.welivesecurity.com/

Anyway, like peeps keep saying. Linux is bullet proof but i laugh at that and i laugh hard.

Everything is exploitable no bloody matter what it is so i choose to not to take sides, create a sig which shows i take sides and tell people to get linux or windows.

You want to access the net, you better well be prepared to be exploited...Simple rule 101.

For us Ozzies, check out Pine Gap, have a sniffer open long enough to see whos trying to knock on your door (Modem/Router).

Edited by JohnnyJammer, 02 September 2017 - 01:47 AM.

I see, thanks for answering. Without going into too much detail, why does everyone at your job-place need a Windows smartphone? Do you guys have an important app that you use for your work or do you just use it for calls + e-mail?

Edited by Just_One_Question, 02 September 2017 - 07:07 AM.

I see, thanks for answering. Without going into too much detail, why does everyone at your job-place need a Windows smartphone? Do you guys have an important app that you use for your work or do you just use it for calls + e-mail?

They are strictly used for email, tethering, sms, mms and pictures along with calls.

We dont need any fancy apps at this stage of the game.

I understand, thank you!

Windows phones are really, truly dead. This weekend, Microsoft’s VP of operating systems confirmed the writing on the wall. “Of course we’ll continue to support the platform [with] bug fixes, security updates, etc.,” Joe Belfiore wrote on Twitter, in response to a conversation sparked by a user asking whether it’s time to move on from the Windows Mobile platform. “But building new [features and hardware] aren’t the focus.”

 

It’s the first time a senior Microsoft employee has said that flat-out, but it’s not the first time one has been so blunt about Microsoft’s mobile hardware prospects. “If you wanted to reach a lot of phone customers, Windows Phone isn't the way to do it,” Windows chief Terry Myerson told the Verge in 2016, while essentially putting Windows Phones on hold for the year. That hiatus now appears more permanent.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3231965/windows-phone-os/windows-10-mobile-phones-are-dead.html