I was just reading a Times Online article talking about the how the iPhone has jumped to third in the global smartphone market behind Nokia and Research in Motion worldwide and a firm second behind RIM in the U.S.
In a little over six months, Apple’s iPhone has moved up to the number 2 spot in smartphone sales. I know that this is not new news, but, for some reason, this article got me to thinking about just how bad Windows Mobile really must be.
I know a lot of people don’t like Microsoft, however, unlike Palm, the company, generally, isn’t poorly run. How does a company with the resources of Microsoft allow their product to limp along like Windows Mobile has, not just recently, but for years?
I know that Microsoft has been known to miss a market or think there is market when there really isn’t, however, they know and have known that smartphones are going get bigger and bigger over time and that it is a space which they should be dominating.
Apple is Apple, but, still… How does Apple jump to second in just over six months when Microsoft has been in the game for well over 10 years?
Your are right !
I’ve been playing with Windows «light» version…. from WinCE, PocketPC, to latest Windows Mobile, since the beginning in 1995… and after 13 years, you still need to go into the registry to fix something !!
I really don’t know what people at Microsoft think about mobile needs for people and how to implement it. I’m playing around in the mobile market world for over 15 years now, and I can tell you that Microsoft mobile vision missed the target….
Look how Vista is doing. Their mobile OS is no better. I’m not surprised one bit. I have it a shot a coilole of times, but it can’t handle heavy use, and constantly crashed. MS got sloppy.
Also, I think they got too big and lost sight of what they want to accomplish. They don’t hire any longer for MS, but hire as if they are a body shop. If you look at the visa sponsorship numbers, they are the number three importer in the United States. How can people possibly be connected and in tune with the company and deliver a product with the same message? I think MS just developes just to push product out these days. Four years for MS Office 2007 and what did we get? A ribbon that only confuses the hell out of end users with a patch for backward compatability. Yeah…
They deserve to get passed by.
Good thought piece…
Not looking at the OS or Device itself, I think one of the problems with Windows Mobile is that Microsoft doesn’t actually manufacturer the devices that use the platform.
So in the case of RIM and Apple, you have those companies building the devices, ensuring the “package” is complete and you have those companies putting all their marketing dollars behind two brands – BlackBerry & iPhone. In the case of Microsoft, you have several companies manufacturing the devices (Samsung BlackJack, Moto Q, HTC Kaiser, etc.) and while all the devices are “ok”, none of them are truly a “Microsoft” phone, and Microsoft isn’t putting the dollars directly into the marketing of each device. PLUS…the consumers tend to focus on the Device Models…not necessarily the OS. So Windows Mobile loses out on that recognition a bit. Think Symbian – they’re #1 worldwide, yet the average consumer doesn’t even know they’re buying a phone powered by Symbian.
OS wise… Windows Powerful is powerful when tweaked up, but the out of the box consumer experience just sucks. And a device like the AT&T Tilt won’t last a 14 hours in battery life.
I had a PocketPC for several years. Had to reboot it every single day. That was my huge gripe.
Microsoft’s mobile platform is just not user friendly enough.
In one word, arrogance. MS has been on top so long with its desktop OS, that it thinks the name alone will insure its dominance. I really think Steve Ballmer thinks he could crap on a plate, slap a Windows label on it and expect people to buy it. Lack of competition is also a factor. Up until the iphone the only competition were Symbian and BB OS. Aside from Nokia, no one in the US market uses it and BB OS was seen as stuffy business only, email platform. By the way, lack of competition was also the reason IE 6 languished for so long before Firefox came along. Now enter the iphone. A polished, elegant product that is not only cool, but way better then Win Mobile. Steve Ballmer’s steaming plate is now looking way less attractive. MS will attempt to improve Win Mobile, but just like Vista, they will fail. MS is has lost most of what made them a great company in the past. Now, like an old man fumbling for his dentures, MS fumbles from one failed project to the next in search of more and more money, having lost sight of its core business.
IMHO, windows mobile for a long time has been for the niches. The real reason the iPhone moved so quickly is simply marketing (oh and that wonderfully user friendly interface) That’s pretty much it. I’ll be honest. I think the iPhone looks great and is easy on the hands, however I played with my friend’s iPhone and after 10 minutes I was bored with it. I’ve been using Windows Mobile for years didn’t see anything the iPhone could do that a current Windows Mobile device couldn’t do (yes with some tweaking).
But that is one of the beauties of windows mobile, complete ability to customise. Sure you can change a theme or two on the iPhone but it is very limited. If you want to SIM unlock your WM phone it doesn’t brick it. There are thousands of applications for nearly every need for WM and Palm phones.
I agree with you on the manufacturing bit. If Microsoft did indeed manufacture it’s own phones there would be less issues. On the down side there would be less diversity in the handheld’s form factors.
I own a T-Mobile Shadow and write for AllShadow.com, the community is just thriving with people figuring out the many different things they can do with the phone. It isn’t a top end phone but with some simple 3rd party applications it quickly becomes invaluable.
MS tried to dominate the mobile phone with Windows Mobile as it did to PC with Windows but obviously they didnt have the same level of sucess. I think people are a bit bored with the Microsoft/windows brand in general. I mean one of the reason they did so well in PC is because with PC people are somewhat “forced” to use Windows because that’s what they use at work and they are familiar with it. It doesn’t make much sense for people to use Windows at work and then buy a Mac or linux box for their home PC… With mobile phone there’s no such issue, people don’t need to be inclined to a particular OS or even know or care what OS it has (save that for the geeks!). That’s at least one of the reason MS can’t dominate the mobile market and probably never will. A phone is much more of a personal device than a PC (i know it’s a personal computer) imaging having all the phones in the market running Windows Mobile … In the consumer market, look and images sells. Functionality and features probably come second. In corporate market, look and image is less important. iPhone did a terrific job in marketing and creating a fantastic look/image for their phone. I doubt they’ll do as well in corporate world compare to BB. My few cents…
Well I tried an iPhone and went back to WM. Because the iPhone is just too limited. It only does a few basics very well, and some other things (like email) not well at all.
Just what it does well (which isn’t much) is what draws people to it.
That being said, Windows Mobile really needs an overhaul.
You’re absolutely right. There is no excuse for a company with the capital and knowledge base of Microsoft to not get this right. The latest attempt seems to be HTC Touch FLO. It’s interesting, but best I can tell as soon as you select a function from the pretty menu, you’re right back to the same old tired screens.
A good friend bought a WM phone a few months ago and returned it for an iPhone after many unresolved issues. Everywhere I look, I see Blackberrys. Especially since RIM is addressing the consumer market now.
I used Windows Mobile back when it was PocketPC and before they addressed the smartphone market. The best thing about it back then was Pocket Informant, which should be available for BB real soon.
Been using my BB for almost 2 years now and I can actually get considerable work done when I’m mobile. Now all we need is the Curve on Verizon and we’ll be all set.
I just switched from my beloved Pearl to the Tmo Shadow running Windows6, and there are many features I miss so much about my BB. Windows takes too many steps to do simple tasks that I used to do on my BB. There are definitely a lot of cool upgrades from Windows6 that my BB couldn’t do, but overall I really miss my Pearl. I’ll stick with this phone until the BB9000 comes out. Hurry up RIM. I need my BB fix.
We have a classic example of apples & oranges. Something nobody has addressed here is that, while the iPhone has moved up to #2 in the US, its platform still lags well behind others in popularity.
There is one iPhone, while there are dozens of WM smartphones. You are comparing a single model, with a huge media push behind it, to a platform. On VZW, the Voyager is outselling not only individual VZW WM models, but the Blackberrys, too.
This isn’t something to fret over, though. Just because Toyota sells more Corollas in a day than Ferrari’s total annual sales doesn’t mean the Japanese offering is better or that Ferraris aren’t lusted after. It means that the majority of people can’t afford the Italian marque, or feel they don’t need 500HP and robotic manual transmissions.
Trumpeting that the iPhone model is #2 in the market is disingenuous, at best. For years, Ford has claimed to be the number one truck in America, but when you take the combined sales of Chevrolet and the essentially identical GMC models, Ford isn’t even close to being at the top.
Come back with figures that tell us which is more popular in platforms and you’ll see that the basic VZW system is more popular than the iPhone. You’ll find that far more Blackberry, WM and even Palm devices are out there.
The people getting iPhones are not smartphone/PDA people. They are trading up from LG flips, Nokia candybars, Razr folders and Kyocera oddities.
Yes, the iPhone modelis number two, but its platform isn’t even close.
For purposes of full disclosure, I carry & use both BB & WM devices – each has its strengths. I worked for AT&T for nearly two decades and know the abysmal quality of their wireless data network. I own one Apple computer, along with six Windows machines due to software compatibility issues with the Apple machine.
Windows Mobile just doesn’t work so well. In the desktop world, even there MS has problems, but they solidified a virtual monopoly and so most people are kind of locked in to Windows, whether they like it or not, and even whether that is true or not.
MS has failed with Windows Mobile, and has failed with its Zune. It seems with portable devices that MS just doesn’t get it.
I think the world of portable devices requires a sense of elegance and simplicity that MS simply does not have.
WM was not created as a phone platform, but as a mobile Windows platform (hence the mandatory crashes). You then add phone functionality and and whatever else you want. This is a strength of the flexibility, but a weakness when competing in a specialised niche.
However, both the iPhone and the BB’s (not counting the original RIM devices) were designed as smart-phone platforms, and are thus ideally suited to fulfill their designed role. This makes them a much better niche device, but leaves them the (potentially percieved) weakness of not having 40,000 applications ranging from dishwasher to garage door opener.
They both have their place, and fortunately for me, only the BB’s place coincides with my place.
You know, this all bothered me a bit, so I did some quick research.
The stat that iPhone is now #2 came from Canalys, using data solely from Q3 2007, which dovetails perfectly with the June 30 launch of the iPhone. What it fails to take into consideration is that sales of the iPhone have tumbled in preliminary Q4 2007 and early reports for 2008.
It also only accounts for phone sales and not users.
Canalys admits that for high-end users, iPhone is virtually non-existent – as my earlier post alludes to.
Another interesting thing no one notices is that the Blackberry platform took off with the advent of a pair of consumer oriented devices. The Pearl is a blatant attempt to get the non-PDA type into a PDA. This soccer-mom, teeny-bopper status symbol has no business being included in any discussion on the merits of Blackberry, as the typical Pearl user sees it as the anti-iPhone, available on all networks. The Curve, on the other hand, is good enough to be carried by power users and is worthy of beinc called a Blackberry.
Overall, though, the iPhone is not a smartphone. It isn’t even a decent phone. It is just a newer version iPod that happens to have phone capabilities built-in. It also doesn’t require a plan as expensive as many smartphone users are paying.
Gee – I can get iPhone cool for the same price as my unlimited data/text message flipper? SOLD!
Add $50 on AT&T for unlimited data/text. Add $44.95 on VZW for the same unlimited data/text plan – on top of your regular charges. Lets toss in another $10 for GPS, plus more for rich-data content (if available). The entry-level iPhone plan is just $59.95, or less than $10 more than AT&T wants for its unlimited data plan alone! For $79.95 per month, I can get the same 450 minutes with most everything VZW offers on a Voyager – unlimited text, data, video/picture messaging, V-Cast, turn-by-turn GPS, ESPN, etc. Yet I choose PDA-type plans with real PDAs – BB and WM. Hey teens! Do you want a 900 min unlimited data VZW Pearl for $119.00/month or do you want an iPhone with the same amount of time for $79? Or a 900 min Voyager with all-the-toys and unlimited text/data/GPS/ESPN/etc., for $99?
America isn’t always bright when it comes to phones – they want the flashiest for the least money.
And watch for the figures for Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 – it will be then that the initial honeymoon love affair with the iPhone becomes apparent. Couple it with the slow speeds of much of the AT&T Mobility network and you might understand the reality of the whole situation.
And, guys & gals – my WM6 phone hasn’t frozen once since I got it 2 months ago. My BB (8830 – which will be junked when the VZW Curve hits – the keyboard is AWFUL) has gone the same distance without a hitch either. The WM phone does more and handles media better. The BB is more intuitive and handles email better. The WM phone has WiFi and readily syncs with the systems we use at work – even though we use BB for our work phones. The BB is better out of the box, while the WM phone is better after customization and tweaking (making it mine). The BB is thinner and runs longer on a charge while the WM device has a bigger, brighter screen (which may account for part of the battery life). The WM has a touchscreen, which depending on preference may or may not be a good thing, and a full keyboard. The WM device is much better at handling bigger and more attachments, plus is better equipped for MSOffice documents (like it or not, MS still rules the corporate document world).
Instead of taking comfort in whick place who is in, look at the device and how it works for you. If the iPhone were to continue in popularity, it could be used on some site claiming…
Just How Bad Is Blackberry?
iPhone most popular
@ Ralph
Gotta disagree with you on the Pearl theory. I’m a seriously heavy user of my BB Pearl, easily hitting two batteries a day and always carry two spares. I go through 300-500 emails a day during the week, use it for browsing on the device and also use it for tethering (VZW…who else). I choose to use the Pearl over the 8830 or even the Curve because, IMHO, the Pearl feels more like a phone and not a waffle against my head and I can fly on that keyboard, despite the smaller size and suretype.
As for the iPhone, I agree with you on most of what you said…but as for MS on the cell platform, no way. For the serious power user, it crashes constantly. I was so eager when it came out on the Treo, bought it (700W on VZW the day it came out), and used it for approximately 7 months. Damn thing not only crashed daily, but I’d have to do a soft reset approximately 3-5 times a day. Pray you don’t get a call when checking email…crash. Working a document and it’s time to check email? Crash. I had to scale back to check email every 15 minutes so the device wouldn’t crash as often. Now I’m taking away the one thing I need ASAP.
I can’t even recall my BB crashing…now that’s what MS needs to accomplish if they want a serious spot in the market.
Aha! I knew there’d be reasonable folks who missed my qualifier of ‘typical’ :o)
I didn’t mean to slam every Pearl user. I know folks who use them like crazy – more than I use my 8830 – but they tend to be younger, with better eyes (all the better to see that smaller screen) and more adaptable (T9 is sufficient for the under middle-aged set).
And you (and Keith) are 100% correct in that WM was designed for a computer, not a phone. But with that, it does a lot of things BB or Palm can only dream of. As a result, it does lose some points as a communications device – but that’s why I have my BB. I love my WM for the fact I don’t have to lug my laptop everywhere. I can create a Word doc or edit Excel files.
The WM crowd will point to the latest WM devices having a faster processor than the BBs, but that is a moot point – the WM device REQUIRES more power, just as a Windows or Mac machine requires more horsepower than does a basic Linux or Unix box.
And I agree with you about the Treo 700 crashing frequently – that came with Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition. Windows Mobile Professional 6 is much more stable – and faster. If I had to live with a WM5 device, it would see the freeway asphalt @ 80MPH.
I was reluctant to pick up my little WM6 device, because of past experiences with PPC5 Treos. VZW offered me one for their 30 day Worry-Free trial. I passed the 30 days and haven’t looked back.
All in all, when people ask me which device should they get, I first ask them what they want their phone to do. If they are low-tech but want lots of features, I point them toward a feature plan and a decent phone. If they want a trouble-free device that is heavily oriented toward the pure smartphone ideal, email & messaging, it is BB, hands down. If they want something that would allow them to leave that 17″ widescreen behind most of the time, I will recommend a WM6 device and not worry that they’ll hate me later.
@ Ralph,
Thanks, but I’m not that young. 🙂
The one thing that I do miss that the BB doesn’t have but the WM and Palm OS’s have is the ability to edit documents. Not that I edit frequently, but it is a nice option. I’m just waiting for Dataviz with come out with the BB version of Documents to Go in order to do so. When it does come out, THEN I may need to make the switch to the Curve when it does come out on VZW. I’ll give it a try first on the Pearl, but for some reason I know I’ll get frustrated trying to read and use it on that small screen.
Robb:
“How does Apple jump to second in just over six months when Microsoft has been in the game for well over 10 years?”
The answer is as simple as “iPhone made by Apple”. The reason why Apple designed and built the iPhone is because the wireless industry was and still is complete crap when it came to devices, it’s been over a year now and still none of the device manufactures have come anywhere close to Apple’s iPhone.
iPhone for Business Is Now in Business
http://gizmodo.com/347063/iphone-for-business-is-now-in-business
iPhone combines three amazing products: a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email, web browsing, searching and maps. It’s also a great communications and productivity tool for business professionals.
3.5-inch widescreen multi-touch display
Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR for wireless data connectivity
Rich HTML email supporting POP3 and IMAP solutions
Visual Voicemail – select and listen to messages in whatever order you want – just like email
“Sony Ericsson Unveils its First Windows Mobile Phone”
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2258979,00.asp
Can Sony not get anything right these days? First they splinter the Symbian OS with UIQ and now some moron gets the bright idea that SE needs to make windoz mobile phones? Nice to see SE is being so loyal to Symbian that they are jumping into the sinking ship known as Windows Mobile. Doesn’t SE own 28.7% of the Symbian OS? Looks like Nokia get’s the powerful Symbian OS all to themselves. It’s funny watching the once top tier device makers twitch and finally realize their products are crap which few are purchasing now that there is the iPhone.