One of the other big strategic goals behind Universal Windows Platform, and a big part of the reason why Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 way too hard (ad revenue is another), was to make it easier to develop apps for Windows Phone, by making every Univeral Windows Application work on every Windows 10 device.
Microsoft's mobile offering simply can't make inroads into a saturated mobile marketplace where everyone already has either an iPhone or an Android, and nobody apart from a few Fenestraphiles (Windows-lovers; from fenestra, window, and philia, fondness; like it?) ever bought a Windows phone. The platform has a "chicken and egg" problem -- with no users, the platform gets no apps made; but with no apps, the platform can't attract new users, let alone lure away users of the other, app-rich mobile ecosystems.
Even the Surface, which was actually ahead of the curve in terms of tablets (convertible laptop/tablet form-factors are the only ones still selling, and the Surface was the first of those to market) is being outsold by Apple's iPad Pro, which Microsoft beat to market by three full years. The most-used OS in the world actually isn't Windows anymore; it's Android, which is only found on smartphones. Only on desktops and laptops does Windows still reign supreme.
Choice is Microsoft's enemy here. Choice has made Android the #1 OS on earth, and seen Windows frozen out of the mobile space completely... even the part of it that they ventured into first. The peril of consumers' choices, and the fact that increasingly mobile, platform-independent consumers are increasingly and overwhelming not choosing Windows... well, apparently that just isn't to be borne. Hence UWP. Hence Windows 10.
(UWP isn't unique to Windows 10, of course; UWP was also a big part of Windows 8... which didn't end well. In fact, Windows 8 is so unpopular that Microsoft skipped over 9 when numbering the next version of their OS; Windows 9 just didn't have enough separation from Windows 8 in terms of brand identity.)
And thus, the desperate gamble: If Microsoft can
It's just a step above underpants gnome logic:
- Phase 1. Switch everyone to Windows 10.
- Phase 2: ...
- Phase 3: Profit!
So... Microsoft... How's that working out for you?
Microsoft has dragged its mobile phone business for long enough with poor results, so the company is reportedly letting go of manufacturing feature phones.
Microsoft and Nokia struck a deal in 2014 and the terms of acquisition read that the Windows developer owns full rights for the Nokia brand for smartphones until 2024. Now, Microsoft looks into licensing the Nokia brand to Foxconn.
The decision purportedly comes due to the unexpected bleak results for the first quarter of 2016, when Microsoft managed to sell a mere 15 million handsets.
The [translated] report from VTech claims that the company aims to discontinue the Microsoft Mobile business, which fans know as the department behind the building of Lumia handsets. The Lumia smartphone business will reportely [sic] join the Surface line. This sounds as bad as it seems for Microsoft's employees, a part of which expect to get the boot during the restructuring. About 50 percent of the Microsoft Mobile members will be looking for new jobs, the report notes.Oh. That well, huh?
At this point, I'd just like to mention that Steve Ballmer told you so:
Steve Ballmer may not be running Microsoft anymore, but the former CEO of the company clearly has some opinions on its current Windows 10 app strategy. Ballmer believes that the universal app platform that Microsoft is currently following is not the way to go, and that the company should consider having Windows Phones run Android apps.Nadella may just want to listen to him. Especially since it's looking more and more like he was right.