Android still growing...

[Mopetar]

Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to throw money at something until it sticks. They shoved billions of dollars into their Xbox division before it started to show a profit. If they're really committed to mobile phones, they shouldn't have any issues with spending a few billion to bootstrap things.

Their biggest problem right now is that there's no compelling reason why anyone should buy a WP7 phone as opposed to anything else. There are still plenty of consumers who don't own smart phones, and plenty who do who don't have a huge preference to the phone that they use. Microsoft needs to provide a compelling reason for all of those consumers to pick WP7.

 

[Nintendesert]

Android phones I played with at Verizon still didn't run smooth. It's what made me get a Windows Phone 7, I wanted a Droid X2 but it just didn't run as fluidly as say iOS does. WP7 gave a very similar UI experience and I liked how smooth is was. Hopefully Mango gets more marketshare for Microsoft, but either way I really like my WP7.

 

[Oyeve]

Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to throw money at something until it sticks. They shoved billions of dollars into their Xbox division before it started to show a profit. If they're really committed to mobile phones, they shouldn't have any issues with spending a few billion to bootstrap things.

Their biggest problem right now is that there's no compelling reason why anyone should buy a WP7 phone as opposed to anything else. There are still plenty of consumers who don't own smart phones, and plenty who do who don't have a huge preference to the phone that they use. Microsoft needs to provide a compelling reason for all of those consumers to pick WP7.

Werent they hyping xbox live games or something like that? I was a tad interested last year when I heard something to that effect but never really looked into it. Now, if MS indeed has or will have xbox live games and marketed it heavily that may have swayed me to look into wp7 phones, but alas they didnt and I didnt bother to check.

 

[BladeVenom]

Never underestimate Microsoft's ability to throw money at something until it sticks.

Look how well they did with MSN Music, PlaysForSure, and the Zune, when they had to compete against Apple in the music business.

 

[cheezy321]

Look how well they did with MSN Music, PlaysForSure, and the Zune, when they had to compete against Apple in the music business.

Same thing could be said about the xbox. They were up against what was the best selling console of all time in the PS2. Sony basically had a monopoly on the game console market. Microsoft ended up winning out on the 2nd generation of the xbox. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

 

[notposting]

I just grabbed a HTC Trophy off ebay (used) for my Verizon account. Still have a NE2 coming in December...first impressions are very favorable. Coming from an OG Droid.

 

[Aikouka]

Same thing could be said about the xbox. They were up against what was the best selling console of all time in the PS2. Sony basically had a monopoly on the game console market. Microsoft ended up winning out on the 2nd generation of the xbox. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

I think that Microsoft's bull-headed approach to entering a market is in some ways almost necessary these days. If Microsoft had released the TouchPad, I have a feeling that unlike HP, it would not have given up so easily (the software also probably wouldn't have been as bad ). I am also very wary about trying to compare the console market to the cellphone market. They're just simply too different to attempt to correlate possible success.

For example, Microsoft found itself at a huge advantage as it released the 360, and Sony's PS3 wouldn't be out for months. In the console world, that is a HUGE advantage since overall hardware changes only maybe 2 times per decade (each console tends to get refreshed though). While it still cost more than a PS2, it provided major tangible differences.

Microsoft's phone offering isn't really bringing anything new to the table. Sure, it works well, but if I have an iPhone... what is it going to do for me that my current phone doesn't do? You can ask the same question with an Android phone as well, and you honestly aren't going to get any decent answers... especially not decent enough to switch.

Unless Apple or Google screw up royally, I honestly don't see Windows Phone 7 or any subsequent releases gaining any traction at all. There really aren't any niches open that need to be filled.

 

[lothar]

Android phones I played with at Verizon still didn't run smooth. It's what made me get a Windows Phone 7, I wanted a Droid X2 but it just didn't run as fluidly as say iOS does. WP7 gave a very similar UI experience and I liked how smooth is was. Hopefully Mango gets more marketshare for Microsoft, but either way I really like my WP7.

The problem was that you tested a Moto Blur phone.
If you had tested another Android phone, your experience would have been vastly different.

 

[lothar]

Same thing could be said about the xbox. They were up against what was the best selling console of all time in the PS2. Sony basically had a monopoly on the game console market. Microsoft ended up winning out on the 2nd generation of the xbox. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Microsoft only won because Sony overpriced themselves out of the market.
Nintendo only won because they underpriced themselves into the market.

 

[s44]

Look how well they did with MSN Music, PlaysForSure, and the Zune, when they had to compete against Apple in the music business.

True. Microsoft did well with the Xboxes because they were able to leverage their PC stuff (DX, dev environment, etc.). This may not play out so well in the phone space, but I see a bright future for Win 8 tablets... if they can cut down the bloat enough so it won't lag even a quadcore next-gen SOC. In people's minds, getting work done = Windows, and this is much more plausible in the tablet space than on a phone. (And, as the Droid's originally did, its brand identity hits strongly against Apple's big weakness.)

 

[BladeVenom]

Same thing could be said about the xbox. They were up against what was the best selling console of all time in the PS2. Sony basically had a monopoly on the game console market. Microsoft ended up winning out on the 2nd generation of the xbox. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Sony's PS2 easily won against the Xbox, and Nintendo's Wii easily won against the 360. The 360 isn't even beating the PS3 in monthly sales. The only reason it's total sales are higher than the PS3 is because it came out a year before the PS3. I see no win for MS. They lost $5 billion with the Xbox. The first two years of the 360 they lost another $3 billion. The 360 isn't going to make that back.

It could be argued that the real winner in the console market was the DS, but MS completely missed the boat in the handheld market.