“Poor little Windows phone could have a bigger effect on Microsoft’s business than you’d think,” Mark Hachman reports for PCWorld. “As the company’s mobile device strategy continues to disintegrate, Microsoft may feel compelled to push harder on Windows 10 adoption and paid services to prove it can survive without a viable smartphone — and that could be bad news for consumers.”
“The raw numbers are shocking: Microsoft sold a minuscule 2.3 million Lumia phones last quarter, down from 8.6 million a year ago,” Hachman reports. “Phone revenue declines will only ‘steepen’ during the current quarter, chief financial officer Amy Hood warned during a conference call.”
“Will Wall Street buy it? If it does, Nadella will be free to continue,” Hachman reports. “But if investors begin to get cold feet, you might see Microsoft push Windows 10 more aggressively to keep its numbers up… If investors start putting the screws in, you can’t help but wonder if there will be more pressure to pay up.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: No problems here, since we’re very happily 100% Microsoft free and have been for many, many years.
For us, watching Microsoft flounder around like a dying fish on land brings immense schadenfreudian enjoyment to each and every day. 🙂
Except at work, I’ve been Windows-free since 1998.
Except at work, I’ve been Windows Free since 1984.
Sadly, I’ve only been Windows free since 1985
Sadly (for real), I have to keep one Windows PC around stocked with state of the art GPUs that support industry required nVidia CUDA computing, because Apple’s Mac Pro is a great Mac but a lousy Pro. 🙁
I just hope Apple fills this gap. The idea that I will continue to need at least one non-Mac is depressing.
Be careful what you over-mock, it may come back to haunt you big time. Now those clueless Microsofties can hold that funeral for real for their own device. Not even Microsoft employees apparently use it, many have already switched to iPhone or Android. Market share for the floundering Windows Phone is now a Ballmer-proverbial “rounding error” and dropping fast.
Loud cruel chuckles given for their boomeranging hubris. Couldn’t happen to a more craptastic company.
My work has Microsoft and Apple, your choice. Guess which one is in the lead? Go Apple!
They still sell phones? Talk about flogging a dead horse. What about their recent Zune sales?
Windows on devices is not on their radar currently, the CEO has said so himself recently.
The big changes at MS are happening at the bottom with their dev tools. They are going cross platform.
They are doing some really cool things with visual studio and I don’t expect analysts to understand it at all.
Microsoft has never done “really cool things” unless you’re a paid shill which indeed you appear to be.
Shhh he needs his little bit of hope its what keeps him going through all the tears.
I’m just a developer who uses some of their technologies in my daily work life.
The new VS 2015 release is impressive. I can now target iOS using existing c# code instead of trying to rewrite/port it. It’s pretty slick.
I think it’s a better direction than MS trying to make Windows on devices work. They are admitting it’s a failure and supporting Apple. Works for me.
Before the rise of Windows, Microsoft became successful by putting its software (developer and office) on every platform it could.
It is returning to its roots after bungling away its Windows dominance.
But I think it will continue in decline as Amazon and Google move in from the cloud and consumers and individual workers slowly migrate to Macs.
Yeah I think its more of a return to their roots with the new CEO.
I like the changes personally, the dev tools they just released are impressive and they are porting SQL server to Linux.
Azure is a massive cloud offering. I see them competing well in ‘the cloud’ so far.
Having been programming since Microsoft was just a couple of guys, I can tell you that from 1970’s through sometime in the 1980’s, Mircosoft was the gold standard for software, and Bill Gates was key to it. Somewhere along the way, he lost control of it.
Microsoft Windows is all set to be the soon to be distant memory that no one wants to ever revisit. Not even once because it’ll drive you back the the bottle again.
Only Windows phone to die off?
I’d rather have Microsoft as a whole to die off…
You see you get these people who go on about how a single Windows code and OS across all devices is this wonderful idea and in truth on paper it might well be. But the failure of the phone is inherently linked to this complex strategy. They promised people a year or more back that buyers would get a free upgrade to the final Win10 experience and then they promised new phones with that experience out of the box. Fact is months (approaching years) after these promises were made they simply have not been able to offer the upgrade. The older phones will likely never get the true update and new phones still only have a part working edition of what they were promised, with an embarrassing lack of functionality that is so slow to meet targets that again they will likely need a new phone to get it if ever comes to fruition. Is it a surprise therefore that users dump their phones and move elsewhere or are put off from buying new models at all with all the broken promises and lack of useful functionality as compared to the opposition. Simple fact is as usual its all promise and no reality with Microsoft and they have taken on far to much technologically than they can provide. Doesn’t bode well.
Overall the OS is now so complex they can barely keep it all working, let alone develop it further.
Cook was absolutely right when he said a year back that their strategy was a misguided one. In fact it was a sign of desperation hidden by futuristic boasts and in similar vein I expect their VR strategy to fail in a similar manner when reality truly hits home. The mist is clearing even in the corporate world.
I had a high-end smartphone with Windows software from 2008-2010. It was slow and buggy. My next smartphone was an Android device, which turned out to be a horrible experience. I might have considered a Windows phone again, but Windows 8 is a joke OS. This shook my confidence in the company. The final straw in my Microsoft relationship was when they turned Windows 10 into a spy machine on steroids. So, this past Christmas I got a Mac and am pleasantly surprised. Incomming notifications, text messages, phone calls, etc. automatically sync between my iPhone and Mac. This is especially handy when my iPhone is out of reach. These notices and texts just magically appear on my computer now. Also, all my bookmarks, music, etc. seamlessly sync between my Mac and iPhone. This is the way computing should be. It just works.
You do know the latest Windows 10 does the same thing right? I run 10 on a desktop, laptop, and phone without issue. I have yet to read one opinion on here grounded in anything but what you read on a Mac forum. The fact is, in the K12 industry in which I service, schools are fleeing Apple when their leases are up in favor of Chromebooks and now similarly priced Windows 10 versions. Now that is indeed fact. Apple has been unable to deliver on improved scores and productivity as promised. Mac’s are great. iPads are great. Just as everything else, they are not these wonderful perfect fit for everyone. They have a niche just like every other OS and device out there. Excellent marketing.
I’m afraid to ask how much do caskets weigh for such a dead man, a good picture is like a funny joke
It is a positive sign for other phone manufacturers that Microsoft is opening up the space for them to come and join.
So Microsoft never does “really cool things”? Tell Apple not to COPY that not very cool Surface Pro.Too bad that Apple has lost its way. Not cool Apple.
Love my Microsoft 950XL. I dont miss my iphone, and its nice having the apps run on my phone through Continuum, or my tablet, or my i7 at home.
Windows 10 on my computers and my windows phones works perfectly.. I have not a problem at all so for the people that are complaining I have got no idea what your problem is .
Thank you Microsoft