Most People Haven’t Heard of Windows Phone. The marketing is so weak.
Seriously there are the current models of Windows Phone 7 out there, but does anyone really use them? Well, they will after they listen to what Steve Wozniak said about his Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in an A New Domain exclusive.
The merits of the Windows Phone came up in a recent episode of Yet Another Tech Show, where panelists Mat Lee, Mike Rothman and Larry Press and I talked about Mike’s dilemma in choosing his next smartphone. He plans to leave the iPhone ecosystem altogether and jump into either Android or the Windows Phone 7. We talked about the latest Windows phone from Nokia, the Lumia 900. Was it the right option for him?
Image credit: Nokia.com
It’s interesting that Microsoft hasn’t started a major Windows Phone 7 push yet. The Nokia Lumia 900 is truly a solid piece of hardware available at AT&T retailers in the U.S. This is a good time for Microsoft to increase its efforts to push Windows Phone and its phone operating system now that the Xbox Kinect is established solidly in the console gaming market.
Take Verizon Wireless as an example. Verizon currently touts the iPhone everywhere. And who can forget the “Droid Does” Android sound bite? Back in 2009, Verizon started its marketing plan with upwards of $100 million to back it up. Everywhere you looked at that time, there was the iconic Droid Eye image on billboards and television commercials. Even radio ads and Verizon social media sites pushed the Droid Does brand.
Did this plan work out for Verizon and the Google’s Android operating system? It did and even helped revive the struggling Motorola Droid Razr and Droid Bionic handsets which are now part of the Verizon flagship.
Image credit: Verizonwireless.com
Verizon is making a move to the next iteration of Windows phone operating system (Windows Phone 8). After Verizon’s recent earnings conference call, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said in an interview, “We’re really looking at the Windows Phone 8 platform because that’s a differentiator. We’re working with Microsoft on it.” Shammo said Verizon Wireless expects to have phones based on the next Microsoft software in time for the 2012 end of year holiday shopping season. No further comments are available from Microsoft.
Is this the kind of effort Microsoft needs to get its chunk of the cell phone market?
Will it even make a difference because Google and Apple have pulled so far ahead with the lead? What are your thoughts on this? Are you interested in getting a Windows Phone? Leave us a comment below here at aNewDomain.net. And check our coverage on that 41mp camera equipped Nokia PureView smartphone, now Symbian-based but on its way to Windows Phone 8.
I love my Windows Phone, works great. Now hoping that they deliver on as good an experience with the Win 8 tablet. My sister also was moving phones , considering an iPhone and went with Windows and loves it. Great integration with FB and Twitter. Tiles are responsive. No regrets.
Verizon will need to put the money behind it like they did Android. The other question is will Microsoft join in? Will updating be a problem? It’s some thing to be concerned about.
The other problem is version 8. Well maybe it’s not a problem, but apparently the phones currently running 7.5 will not be upgraded to OS version 8. Will consumers just sit back and wait it out? Again putting MS on the losing end of market share for Q2-Q3?
Thnx for your comments, Robert!
-RAP, II
Hearsay.. not confirmed one way or another. Upgrades are not always a choice of Microsoft’s. That said, we don’t really know. Redmond has gone all mysterious. Let a visible person from the company say one thing or the other and they get slapped…
This isn’t a marketing problem, it’s a Microsoft problem. (1) Microsoft can’t make up it’s mind if it wants ad revenue, or sale revenue. It tries to get both usually one to get you hooked, then the other once your dependent. (2) People need “trust” to buy into a cloud application, people trust Google because they know where they stand, many even trust Facebook of things because they need it and at least it’s free, but even if they have to use it…nobody “trusts” Microsoft not to charge them later, sell their data, or have some dependency you find out later requires you use another MS product. (3) Finally, those that were most loyal to Microsoft got burned bad by the KIN, even if it sucked MS should have supported it…now many are waiting to see what happens because Win phone could just disappear if it doesn’t sell well.
I totally forgot about the Kin phones. Wow.
That was the phone for teens, right? ;)
-RAP, II
@Ant Pruitt No one know whether 1st and 2nd generation Windows Phones won’t be updated to Windows Phone 8, all there are right now is rumours or blabber about it. Microsoft is most likely has a team working on it right now.
Thanks, Chanoch, for commenting. I’d like to think MS will allow those phones to update to vers 8, but I won’t hold my breath either.
-RAP, II
Are you a WP user? If so, I’d like to hear more thoughts from you. Can you connect with me on Google Plus or shoot me an email at ant@anewdomain.net?
thnx!
-RAP, II
I’m a WP user got a LG Optimus 7 and I just added you to my circles on Google Plus.
Of course people never heard of Windows Phone 7. Especially if they go to buy one, and the associates would try to persuade them to buy iPhone or Android. Took Nokia to mass market Lumia 900, and MS(Ben the PC guy) to promote Windows (Smoked By Windows Phone) and with the collaboration of AT&T to finally working together to market Windows Phone.
Let’s face it, Microsoft is running a marathon with Windows Phone 7, not a sprint.
I think Microsoft does not want to screw this one up and is being very cautious. They have been quietly building Windows Phone 7 and then 7.5 (I have used both since they came out and agree that the UI is both amazing and smooth as silk). But in some ways I think this is all a big beta test for Windows Phone 8. I really think Microsoft has been laying low to collect data and make their Windows 8 Phone as close to perfection as they can.
I may be wrong here, but I fully expect Microsoft to pull out all the stops and spend millions advertising the Windows 8 Phone this summer and fall. This may sound fanboyish, but I think in two years (just after everyones’s current phone contract expires), Windows Phone will have the biggest market share in the smartphone market (it’s that good).
Thanks for your comments and your insight, Curtis. I would like to discuss your user experience more. Can you connect with me on Google Plus or shoot me an email at ant@anewdomain.net?
Thnx, Curtis!
-RAP, II
This is the first that I have heard of this. Without having tested the tech myself I can only say that, like all Windows products I will approach this with cautious skepticism. The market will make the final determination.
You’re not alone, Eric. This area seems to only have the other phones pushed to them. I finally saw the Windows commercial for the Nokia Lumia 900 this weekend. Too bad when we walk into the AT&T’s in the area, what will be pushed is the iPhone 4S.
Thnx for your comments!
-RAP, II