Microsoft’s Terry Myerson yesterday in a goodbye letter admitted the mistakes that led to Windows Phone’s failure. In the farewell post, Myerson shared his thoughts on failed Windows Phone platform. Today, another Microsoft executive Brandon Watson, former Senior Director for Windows Phone in a series of tweets blamed the OEMs and carriers for the platform’s failure.
Brandon Watson was responsible for developer platform product management for Windows Phone operating system and he believes that the OEMs support could have saved the platform. Watson also blames the carriers for providing no support to Microsoft’s Windows Phone. He also admits that it was almost impossible for Microsoft to beat Android or iOS as the manufacturers were not embracing it.
“Windows Phone died because it would have been almost impossible to beat Google or Apple without carriers and handset manufacturers embracing it. We got second string devices and almost no support at the carriers. They couldn’t keep burning money to please Sisyfus,” he said in a tweet.
Yesterday, Terry Myerson shared his thoughts on failed Windows Phone platform. He also admitted that Microsoft couldn’t catch up with its rivals, although Windows Mobile was one of the pioneers in the competition against Android and iOS.
“Enabling mobile connectivity was a key focus of Exchange. Android launched that September. But what I remember most vividly, was the Friday when Andy Lees and Robbie Bach asked me to lead Windows Mobile. I knew we had so much work to do on our non-touch no-app-store Windows Mobile effort. I was honored, and more than a little terrified. Ten days later my office moved across campus,” he said.
“We innovated in phone user experience. We had innovative plans for the business model that never came to light. We worked hard. Really hard. But the industry moved forward faster than we could catch up,” he added.
Windows Phone had its very own strong points and of them was the tile interface that Microsoft developed with proper attention. It goes without saying that everything failed due to the fast growth of Windows Phone rivals, and Microsoft’s mobile efforts weren’t enough to make a competitive solution.
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The real question though is what has changed, if anything. Is Andromeda going to be a concept product that was never intended to gain mass appeal?
I wonder if that was the entire point after Satya took over. He didn't seem interested in growing the Windows Phone/Mobile ecosystem, which HAD immense promise at the time. He's a terrible leader who was selected because of the diversity points he brought to Microsoft.
I'd say it still has the promise. There _is_ a space for another platform, well executed and well supported. Both things MS can obviously provide. But the truth is, unlike Elon for example most of the execs are chosen for their ability to generate tons of money and the current one is a fine performer. He just doesn't know how to unite dreams (industry-disrupting products and new exciting tech) and money.
Seriously, I sometimes wonder - MS is far from being the cheapest company out there. How much does mobile development really cost? Does it really eat into their margins so much? The team working on Mobile was probably very small compared to the team working on Office and AI. Technically they could've continued that development forever until they found a better leader.
They squandered the excitement and I doubt that will come back. They had one shot and blew it. Now it'll be an also ran at best.