Microsoft Continues to Fail at Encouraging Windows Phone Adoption
The current situation surrounding Windows Phone and the popular social and media perceptions of it are highly relevant to many of the recent topics in our networks class. To summarize the articles, ExtremeTech argues that much of Windows Phones’ failure has been due to lack of app content, which is only getting worse with the recent disappearance of popular apps such as Mint, Pinterest, Bank of America, and others. The article also mentions that of those apps that are available on Windows Phone, many are low quality and inferior to their iOS and Android counterparts – even apps directly from Microsoft such as Skype and Office. Microsoft seems so desperate to encourage app development for Windows Phone that they have even begun to create easy paths for developers to port their Android and iOS apps to Windows Phone. The article is hopeful however that the new integration of Windows 10 and Windows Phone could help bring new apps to the Windows Phone ecosystem. ZDNet provides several other reasons for the current failure of Windows Phone, including the negative popular image of Windows 8, and the lack of high-quality handsets compared to most iOS and Android flagship models. ZDNet reiterates the problem of app availability and quality, mentioning it as a major reason that people don’t want Windows Phones. The article also mentions how despite the numerous extensive advertising campaigns by Microsoft, people know that Windows Phone isn’t truly popular, and people want what their friends are using. On Quora.com, a former Microsoft engineer succinctly summarizes the issue with Windows Phone. “I think it’s mostly just a bootstrapping problem. iPhone and Android beat Microsoft into the market by a large gap, and together they have a commanding market share. Without a strong user base, there’s not enough motivation for devs to make apps for the Windows Phone, and because there are so few apps, few users buy Windows Phones, and so on. Vicious cycle” (Quota). The last two articles are just examples of the extensive advertising Microsoft has put into pushing Windows Phone, from filming ads of it being used by celebrities to putting up a six-story tall Windows Phone advertisement in New York City.
The situation with Windows Phone is highly relevant to the principles of network effects and crowd benefits that we have been studying in class. Windows Phone fits the model well in that each person has an intrinsic value for the phone, amplified by a value based on how many other people use it. People will value the Windows Phone based on how much they like the hardware, apps, experience etc. as well as based on how many of their friends use it and what kind of popular image it has. Windows Phone is a good example of a product that has failed to jumpstart its way into equilibrium, being chronically stuck at a market share of roughly two percent. Without the constant push from Microsoft, it would quickly fall off the market completely. In the case of Windows Phone, despite the huge advertising pushes from Microsoft attempting to push the phone into contention in the market and place it in stable equilibrium as a serious competitor, Windows Phone has not taken off. As the articles above mentioned, Windows Phone generally has both a lower intrinsic value and network value than Android and iOS phones, prohibiting its adoption. However, the main effect by far is probably that of network values. Simply put, nobody is using the phone, and so nobody wants to use the phone, no matter how much money Microsoft puts into it. People generally want phones that their friends have (think of iPhones in America) and the more people that use a phone, the bigger the app market is. Thus, Windows Phone users are currently often left in isolation with a phone with few apps and little support available. Just using the principles learned in class we can see why Windows Phone hasn’t and probably won’t take off – too strong of a network effect combined with little network benefit.
UPDATE (11/18/15): According to DigitalTrends, Microsoft recently nixed plans to allow easy porting of Android apps to Windows Phone. However, Microsoft will continue to push forward with iOS porting.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-windows-phone-is-barely-making-a-dent-in-the-market/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/microsoft-windows-10-android-porting-on-hold/