Microsoft pulls plug on Windows 10 Mobile, says userbase too small to support apps

Posted:
in General Discussion
Having long stuggled for marketshare versus the Apple iPhone and Google Android devices, Microsoft is effectively giving up on Windows 10 Mobile for the time being, a company executive said over the weekend.




"Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren't the focus," Windows experience head Joe Belfiore commented via Twitter. He separately noted that Microsoft has tried "very hard" to incentivize app developers, even paying and writing apps for them, but found that the "volume of users is too low for most companies to invest."

Windows controls just 1.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, which while better than BlackBerry may too low to justify development budgets -- even newer BlackBerry-branded devices now run Android.

Windows 10 Mobile was intended to let people quickly shift people between phones, tablets, and desktops, but the number of compatible Windows 10 apps has been low, making it difficult to use Windows phones beyond the most common tasks. There have also been no breakout hardware hits, despite the company doing reasonably well with its Surface tablet and laptop PCs.

Belfiore's comments could theoretically kill remaining interest in Windows 10 Mobile, shifting yet more marketshare towards the iPhone and/or Android.

Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has already been concentrating more of its own app development on iOS and Android, content to do so long as people use the company's services. Most recently it launched a preview of Edge for iOS, which should eventually let Windows users conduct seamless web browsing without turning to software by Google or Mozilla.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 55
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    The most shocking thing about this story is that it didn't already happen 3 years ago. I commend MS for continuing support for a decreasing user base but how few users does it take for MS to finally give up and admit defeat, 8?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 55
    "... Windows experience head Joe Belfiore ..." I want the title "Experience Head."
    anton zuykovcornchip
  • Reply 3 of 55
    "Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has already been concentrating more of its own app development on iOS and Android, content to do so long as people use the company's services." And if they don't use the kompany's services, Nadella will roar like Sinistar.
    razorpitcali
  • Reply 4 of 55
    I tried using a Windows phone and actually used it as my main driver (Nokia 1520) for over a year. It wasn't a bad experience. The problem was the lack of apps and basically offering everything iOS offers in a much rougher, clunkier form. M$ was basically throwing money at developers and IT support managers but even that couldn't convince me to stick with it, recommend it or deploy it.

    Switching back was pure joy.


    magman1979bobby88watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 5 of 55
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,052member
    When is the funeral?
    hodarpscooter63StrangeDaysboltsfan17Rayz2016chiaGG1calikiltedgreenRacerhomieX
  • Reply 6 of 55
    How many abandoned mobile platforms does this make for MS?  Is it any wonder developers want nothing to do with them?  They have the money and smarts to do mobile right.  They apparently don't have the vision or patience to do though.  It's sort of sad.


    magman1979watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 7 of 55
    One facet of Ballmer's legacy. So sad...so glad.

    watto_cobracornchipjony0
  • Reply 8 of 55
    hodarhodar Posts: 357member
    eightzero said:
    When is the funeral?
    That was the part I remember the most during their "Release", was the "Funeral Parade".  The sheer arrogance of MSFT, they arrive to the market 3+ years late, without any new features, and then stage a funeral on how they are going to kill Apple.  Then they released a Lumia 1020 with 41 MP camera, when the tech clearly didn't support that level of technology.  No cut and paste, when every competitor already had it.

    How many times have they done this same dance?  Surface 1, Surface 2, Surface RT, Kin1 and Kin2, Zune, Windows phones - all cancelled without support, leaving their user base suck with an unsupported platform.  You would think that people would catch on eventually.
    fotoformatpscooter63magman1979watto_cobracornchipdewme[Deleted User]jony0
  • Reply 9 of 55
    How much did they spend/lose on the Nokia acquisition? Combine that with the amount Google spent/lost on Motorola Mobility. Wow, that's a lot of dinero down the drain.
    watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 10 of 55
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,189member
    How much did they spend/lose on the Nokia acquisition? Combine that with the amount Google spent/lost on Motorola Mobility. Wow, that's a lot of dinero down the drain.
    Not entirely wasted I'd think, as such hoo-hah acquisitions make an impression on some people who then become customers or employees.
  • Reply 11 of 55
    eightzero said:
    When is the funeral?
    It already happened. It is just they have printed out a press release.
    pscooter63watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 55
    Thanks for the memories, Microsoft.

    StrangeDaysibillboltsfan17chiafotoformatGG1evilutionking editor the grateelectrosoftanton zuykov
  • Reply 13 of 55
    I tried using a Windows phone and actually used it as my main driver (Nokia 1520) for over a year. It wasn't a bad experience. The problem was the lack of apps and basically offering everything iOS offers in a much rougher, clunkier form. M$ was basically throwing money at developers and IT support managers but even that couldn't convince me to stick with it, recommend it or deploy it.

    Switching back was pure joy.


    Likewise, I tried the platform for over 2 years and was getting more frustrated by the month. Perhaps the frustration came partly because the tiles interface was truly okay to work with, but the bugs jumped from app to app with every new iteration that came out. And second that the phone itself, a Nokia, was fine and, in its way, nice to see with a beautiful Oled screen and great camera (time and again people would comment on it and doing the oh and ah thing). And Microsoft kept telling how they would support this podium. Perhaps that was the big frustration, because everybody knew, felt, how untrue that was.
    edited October 2017 cornchip
  • Reply 14 of 55
    One facet of Ballmer's legacy. So sad...so glad.



    Windows 10 Mobile's next of KIN has been notified of its death.
    Rayz2016chiarazorpitpscooter63king editor the grateanton zuykovStrangeDayscornchip[Deleted User]retrogusto
  • Reply 15 of 55
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,293member
    I tried using a Windows phone and actually used it as my main driver (Nokia 1520) for over a year. It wasn't a bad experience. The problem was the lack of apps and basically offering everything iOS offers in a much rougher, clunkier form. M$ was basically throwing money at developers and IT support managers but even that couldn't convince me to stick with it, recommend it or deploy it.

    Switching back was pure joy.


    Likewise, I tried the platform for over 2 years and was getting more frustrated by the month. Perhaps the frustration came partly because the tiles interface was truly okay to work with, but the bugs jumped from app to app with every new iteration that came out. And second that the phone itself, a Nokia, was fine and, in its way, nice to see with a beautiful Oled screen and great camera (time and again people would comment on it and doing the oh and ah thing). And Microsoft kept telling how they would support this podium. Perhaps that was the big frustration, because everybody knew, felt, how untrue that was.
    Rumor has it that the Surface Platform will be "sleeping" next. It just isn't profitable enough nor necessary.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/04/surface/
    edited October 2017 watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 16 of 55
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    wigby said:
    The most shocking thing about this story is that it didn't already happen 3 years ago. I commend MS for continuing support for a decreasing user base but how few users does it take for MS to finally give up and admit defeat, 8?
    The problem is that MS wasted investors money on this for the last 3 yrs. MS is really bad at sunk cost decisions, they continue to put money into something which was not returning any profits, they did the same thing on Zune.
    watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 17 of 55
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member


    RIP Windows Phone!
    hypoluxacalianton zuykovwatto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 18 of 55
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Thanks for the memories, Microsoft.

    How many phone platforms has Apple Killed off
    Windows Mobile
    BlackBerry
    Symbian

    Apple should start holding funeral for all those competitor they buried over the years. But if they did that they would be no better than MS
    tmaycalisuddenly newtonStrangeDayswatto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 19 of 55
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,689member
    tmay said:
    I tried using a Windows phone and actually used it as my main driver (Nokia 1520) for over a year. It wasn't a bad experience. The problem was the lack of apps and basically offering everything iOS offers in a much rougher, clunkier form. M$ was basically throwing money at developers and IT support managers but even that couldn't convince me to stick with it, recommend it or deploy it.

    Switching back was pure joy.


    Likewise, I tried the platform for over 2 years and was getting more frustrated by the month. Perhaps the frustration came partly because the tiles interface was truly okay to work with, but the bugs jumped from app to app with every new iteration that came out. And second that the phone itself, a Nokia, was fine and, in its way, nice to see with a beautiful Oled screen and great camera (time and again people would comment on it and doing the oh and ah thing). And Microsoft kept telling how they would support this podium. Perhaps that was the big frustration, because everybody knew, felt, how untrue that was.
    Rumor has it that the Surface Platform will be "sleeping" next. It just isn't profitable enough nor necessary.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/04/surface/
    highly doubt it. Tablet computing is one area where MS is actually giving Apple a run for its money.
  • Reply 20 of 55
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,293member
    tmay said:
    I tried using a Windows phone and actually used it as my main driver (Nokia 1520) for over a year. It wasn't a bad experience. The problem was the lack of apps and basically offering everything iOS offers in a much rougher, clunkier form. M$ was basically throwing money at developers and IT support managers but even that couldn't convince me to stick with it, recommend it or deploy it.

    Switching back was pure joy.


    Likewise, I tried the platform for over 2 years and was getting more frustrated by the month. Perhaps the frustration came partly because the tiles interface was truly okay to work with, but the bugs jumped from app to app with every new iteration that came out. And second that the phone itself, a Nokia, was fine and, in its way, nice to see with a beautiful Oled screen and great camera (time and again people would comment on it and doing the oh and ah thing). And Microsoft kept telling how they would support this podium. Perhaps that was the big frustration, because everybody knew, felt, how untrue that was.
    Rumor has it that the Surface Platform will be "sleeping" next. It just isn't profitable enough nor necessary.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/04/surface/
    highly doubt it. Tablet computing is one area where MS is actually giving Apple a run for its money.
    Not much of a "run for the money". For the most part, Surface stuff competes with potential Mac Book / Mac Book Pro buyers, not the iPad Pro. which is a pure mobile execution of tablet. Windows Phone being dead doesn't advance that at all.

    Now, I might agree that a Surface on ARM in a similar form factor would likely compete with the iPad Pro, but, still awaiting a rebirth. 

    watto_cobra
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