Windows Phone problem explained by Microsoft vet

Former Microsoft staffer and now wider mobile app developer Charlie Kindel has dissected Windows Phone 7's current failure in the market. He blamed it on Microsoft's semi-open strategy antagonizing both carriers and hardware designers it needs to promote its hardware. Carriers don't have the control over updates and forced app policies that they like in Android, but hardware makers also don't have the full control over hardware and software that they want.

Without support from either side, Microsoft was getting no marketing support. Carriers didn't want to sell Windows Phones because it wasn't their preferred platform, but hardware makers also didn't want to promote hardware and software they couldn't heavily customize. Apple didn't have full carrier endorsement but also had full control over its hardware.

Windows Phone avoids the platform fragmentation of Android, Kindel said, but it was also what hardware partners, many of whom depend much more on Google's OS, wanted. Not even the Nokia deal was necessarily a guarantee.

While the corporate support was likely an important factor, others have pointed to the public perception of Windows Phone even by itself. Rackspace blogger Robert Scoble observed that virtually no company promotes apps outside of their Android and iOS titles, making Windows Phone always the risky, unknown choice.

Tech investor MG Siegler also pointed to the simple reality of Windows Phone having come "way too late." Apple could afford to defy carriers because their existing choices in 2007 were poor; Microsoft didn't have a modern entry until late 2010, well after the bar had been raised much higher by the iPhone and later Android. It needed more than just a competitive platform to get attention when it didn't have app support.

By Electronista Staff