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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admits giving up on Windows Phone and mobile was a mistake
(www.theverge.com)
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
588 points (96.5% liked)
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There really was something about the windows phone UI though. If you weren't around to try it, it's hard to properly explain how different and fresh the flat pane interface felt compared to iOS and Android. It really was a phenomenal design language compared to the same old thing in the market.
I honestly believe it they had just sucked it up and subsidized the cost of doubling the ram on those last Nokia devices, it could have been good enough to break through. Microsoft had everything possible to gain from integrating the desktop-to-mobile workflow for business clients. Then they threw it out the window...
Seriously, I doubt many people here who aren't used to corporate environments can fully understand how big the market was, that Microsoft gave up, by not spending enough to fill the BlackBerry hole that formed. They had 98% of the solution already developed, and fumbled the ball with a single yard left to go.
There was room for three players, if one of them actually serviced the business environment; and nobody was better positioned to do so than Microsoft at the time. Excel and PowerPoint that synced from your work machine, to the field, in a zero trust environment... Gah.. they were so close.
I had Lumia, on Windows 8 it was okayish, but when it moved to Windows 10...oh my god it was amazing. And the fact that you also got an amazing screen and amazing camera made the experience magical
They really needed to listen to their enterprise customers. Windows Phone could have easily taken over as the 'corporate phone', if it had any integration at all. With the side benefit that their corporate customers also employ the developers that could build out the apps they needed to create the marketplace.
Instead they tried to take on Apple and Google, in an end user space that had already been thoroughly saturated, with a product that was barely on par.