Quo vadis Windows Mobile? – Microsoft’s last chance with Windows 10 Mobile

After Microsoft successfully introduced Windows 10 on desktop systems and tablets in the summer of 2015, Windows 10 Mobile is now also being launched on smartphones and probably represents Microsoft’s last chance to gain a secure position in the mobile sector. In our opinion, however, the signs are rather negative.

History

Windows Mobile (formerly Windows CE) was Microsoft’s first attempt to establish an operating system on mobile devices such as PDAs. However, Windows Mobile was discontinued in favor of the completely new Windows Phone operating system. The collaboration with Nokia and the debut of Windows Phone then turned into a very expensive takeover of Nokia’s mobile business with the subsequent omission of the word «Nokia» from device names.

Android arrived on the market much later than Windows CE. Initially, Android had to impose itself above all against Apple and Symbian. However, together with HTC as a partner, the operating system managed to establish itself quickly because Symbian was technically in place, Apple used its operating system only for its own devices, while Android was used by many manufacturers as an open source operating system for devices of all price ranges.

A short time later there were only two leaders: Apple and Android. Microsoft’s mobile operating system battled with Blackberry for third place and ultimately prevailed over the Canadian competition.

Windows Phone was already a good smartphone operating system and was initially shipped on the first Lumia devices – developed in collaboration with Nokia in 2011 – but did not show any particular strengths, especially in combination with Windows. After the cosmetic update of Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile is Microsoft’s renewed attempt to connect desktop and mobile and thus defend itself from the dominance of Android and iOS.

It’s not a bad system

Windows 10 Mobile is a powerful mobile operating system and is very easy to use, especially for PC users: Windows 10 Mobile uses the same tiled interface as the desktop version of Windows. However, the operating concept only makes sense on devices with touch controls. If you already have a Microsoft account, you can link your account to Windows Mobile and use many services (mail, calendar, cloud storage) as well as desktop settings (such as background image and color scheme) across your devices

In January 2016, the trade magazine connect compared Android 6, iOS 9 and Windows 10 Mobile and was surprised by how well Windows 10 Mobile can keep up with iOS and Android.

Lumia devices owned by Windows

In addition to Nokia, HTC and Huwaei smartphones that use the Windows operating system, Microsoft has also been offering its own smartphones for some time. Newer models with Windows 10 mobile replace the Nokia branding with a Microsoft label. The Lumia 950 XL managed to convince the specialized press, not only for the excellent camera, but also for the not only aesthetic change in the operating system: away from Windows Phone 8.1 and towards Windows 10 Mobile.

The ecosystem decides

Unfortunately, the quality and quantity in the App Store is currently lacking, which we recently criticized when testing the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

As interesting and sometimes innovative as Windows smartphones are, the situation with the offering of Windows apps appears equally bleak. While users of Android smartphones like the popular Samsung Galaxy S7 can access a wide selection of apps in the Google Play Store, the Windows Store is still relatively empty. You won’t find Windows versions of many popular apps.

Microsoft is going all out to get developers to get more excited about apps on the Windows platform and has launched the Windows Bridge for iOS and Windows Bridge for Android projects to bring more apps to Windows. However, so far it hasn’t helped. Windows is simply not accepted by developers as a mobile platform, which is certainly due to the current market situation.

The beginning of the end

In any case, critical comments and predictions about the future of Windows Mobile are increasing in the specialized press. The sales figures for Microsoft’s Lumia smartphones are terrible. Microsoft, for example, managed to sell only 10.5 million smartphones worldwide in the third quarter of 2015. With nearly 400 million smartphones sold in total, that’s just 1.1%. Certainly not enough for the desktop market leader. It is therefore not surprising that the international market research company IDC predicted a gradual death of Windows Mobile in March 2016, saw the global market share at less than 1% by 2020 and then significantly revised its forecast downwards from December 2015.

Even Microsoft no longer seems to believe in its success and in mid-2015 it has already cut almost 8,000 jobs in Nokia’s mobile communications division. Microsoft’s current strategy focuses more on enterprise customers, whose devices can be centrally managed and administered in a Windows environment alongside desktops and servers, and less on private users, as reflected in an email from Microsoft CEO Nadella to Microsoft employees from summer 2015.

We’ll see where the journey leads. But no one really believes anymore that Microsoft will have a significant role in the medium term with Windows 10 Mobile. Overall it’s a shame, because Lumia devices are much better in terms of price/performance than Windows’ reputation on smartphones themselves, as tests of the new entry-level device Lumia 550 or the Lumia 650 show.