RIP Windows Phone

Soldato
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So it looks like Windows Phone sales have collapsed. I guess that's unsurprising when there's hardly been any new hardware for it.

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What's everyone's take on this? Are people going to miss Windows Phone? Personally, I've never been a fan but I'm sad that there's not a third platform left to keep Google/Apple honest. I'm also sad that this is effectively the end for 'Nokia' phones.
 
Soldato
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for me windows phones only made sense in the sub £100 range due to the decent performance on low hardware. After that price I cant think of a reason not to chose a android device or a Apple device.
 
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:rolleyes:

What an idiotic post, they just released a new hardware in December as well as a new OS, is about to announce new hardware in Feb, and is set to announce a surface phone in the summer when Redstone rolls out.
 
Associate
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I've long been a fan of windows phone, well the flagship phones at least. Maybe it was a lot to do with the Nokia designs, loved my 920, 1020 and the 930, which I did update to windows 10. Windows 10 just didn't do it for me, can't really describe what it was. Thought I would give the Microsoft Lumia 950 a try, looked at a working demo unit in an O2 shop and it looked so bland and generic, I knew if I'd ordered from Amazon it would be returning the same day. Heard good things about the camera (never tried it) and the screen looked better compared to my friends 930 but the handset in general has received some scathing reviews. I think if Microsoft had released this at say £299 it would have stood a better chance as it can't compete with other flagships on design/build.
 
Soldato
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I bought my 1520 in January 2014 and it was their flagship phone for nearly 2 years, which would explain the massive dip in the graph.

This has been by far my favourite phone over the years, it's a shame Microsoft aren't pushing out more regular software and hardware updates.

MW
 
Soldato
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The appeal of Windows Phone was the simplicity and speed. My last Windows Phone was a Lumia 1520 running 8.1. I loved the phone but it was missing too many important features for me. No 3rd party browser support (Chrome) or official YouTube app and poor performance from the Plex app.

I was looking forward to 950XL but the majority of reviews say the device feels cheap with poor battery life etc. And I haven't found a single review where Windows 10 Mobile was liked.

MS have been promising to add "missing" features since Windows Phone 7. It's always been "wait for the next update". Myself and others gave up waiting. IMO, the 950 and Windows 10 Mobile was the last chance for MS.
 
Soldato
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:rolleyes:

What an idiotic post, they just released a new hardware in December as well as a new OS, is about to announce new hardware in Feb, and is set to announce a surface phone in the summer when Redstone rolls out.

That proves what a poor job MS have done with marketing the phone. I doubt many people outside the tech community even know about Windows Mobile.

Is the Feb announcement the 650 or is there more. If it's just the 650 why bother. There are already lots of low to mid range Lumias.

Last I read the surface phone was still a rumour.
 
Man of Honour
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People know about it, but app selection sucks and phone stores will never push it.

Mist if the savings fir 950 have nothing to di with the phone, but about the app store. The reviews fir the actual phone are generally solid but also say there's nothing there to tempt android/ios users over which is true.

Surface phone is a solid rumour, while nit officially announced, they have made plenty if comments that infer it.

They're all old, even 640 was released almost a year ago, so a refresh is needed, otherwise you end up with no one buying or upgrading, as per the graph in op.

There's rumours of a 750/850 as well but I doubt it.
 
Soldato
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:rolleyes:

What an idiotic post, they just released a new hardware in December as well as a new OS, is about to announce new hardware in Feb, and is set to announce a surface phone in the summer when Redstone rolls out.

Windows Phone is nothing more than a vanity project at this stage. No smartphone platform is sustainable on less than 6 million sales per quarter. Nokia were selling that many smartphones in 2005.

Microsoft will keep it ticking over but it's dead as a credible smartphone platform.
 
Man of Honour
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The 1520 has been my favourite handset I've ever had and I bought it on release. Now on windows 10 it is even better (albeit with a few niggles).

I hope they sort their marketing out and get surface phone right and start to make some gains.

The post at the top of this thread is pretty pathetic.
 
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No surprise really, although sad. Windows 10 still not ready, 3rd party apps are non existant. I enjoy using my Nokia 830, its a good reliable fast phone, however apps are generally what makes smart phones, and there arent any for WP.
 
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:rolleyes:

What an idiotic post, they just released a new hardware in December as well as a new OS, is about to announce new hardware in Feb, and is set to announce a surface phone in the summer when Redstone rolls out.

I don't know how you think they're just suddenly going to gain traction when they've been struggling to do so for years now. The last WP flagship (the 930) was released almost 2 years ago in mid 2014. So it's taken them all that time for them (or any other manufacturer) to come out with a significant flagship. Instead they've released dozens of low and mid end devices, probably in the hopes of upping their numbers in developing markets, but they haven't even broken a double digit market share percentage overall.

The 950/XL was announced in October. It wasn't released until a month later (2 if talking about the UK), when all hype for a device on an already unpopular OS would surely have died down. The brand spanking new OS was buggy as hell on these supposed flagships which didn't do them any favours. One or two upcoming flagships aren't going to make every phone manufacturer and app developer suddenly jump over.
 
Man of Honour
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I don't know how you think they're just suddenly going to gain traction when they've been struggling to do so for years now. .

didn't realise I did say that. However the fact is wp isn't dead and wont die for years. ms is still developing it, still releasing hardware etc.

actualy theres a fair few countries they've broken double digits and are doing very well in, just not in the massive markets which are extremely important namely USA and china.

phones wont get app devlopers as there isn't enough market share, although they really should for country specific ones like UK, Italy and a few other places that have a very good marketshare. however w10 might get app devlopers, W10 already has over 200million active installs and w10 universal apps are starting to be released. only time will tell if it's enough to close the massive app gap.
 
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Soldato
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Devices have poor release schedules as they gutted the Nokia teams who were designed to keep the product portfolio ever updating to the latest. They are abhorrent to deal with as an OEM and scared away all their partners with their crazy demands / fees. Networks have no desire to back another dead duck, it costs them all time and money to support and current MS aren't even showing interest in their own products, hard to get excited about that.
 
Soldato
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Shame that MS totally dropped the ball with WP. I think they are great.
I deployed over 50 of the 735's into our business, they worked seemlessly with Exchange etc, wherease iphone and android can suffer syncing issues on occasion (android more so).
I replaced them with the Galaxy S5 last year, purely for the app availability.
Once W10 goes RTM i'll test it on a 735 and may consider bringing it back into the fold.
I firmly believe that when W10 becomes mainstream on WP and because MS have opened up the API we will see many more android and iphone devs offer their apps in the MS store too, which would be great.
Devs biggest issues (i contacted a few) were that the API in WP8.1 wasn't open enough for them to develop in a timely an cost effective manner. That and the 6% market share that WP had :rolleyes:
 
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