4 reasons why Microsoft can't give up its mobile operating system

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned that he would take "tough decisions" on some underperforming businesses. In addition, Microsoft's mobile operating system WP and mobile hardware business continued to show no improvement. Some analysts believe that Nadella's "tough decision" may refer to completely abandoning Microsoft's mobile operating system. Recently, there are also rumors that Microsoft may launch Android phones and focus on promoting its own Android applications.

Analysts and media have recently expressed different opinions on whether Microsoft will abandon the WP (or Windows 10 Mobile) operating system. Fool, an American investment and financial website, recently analyzed that due to the influence of four factors, Microsoft has not yet been able to completely occupy the mobile operating system market.

It is not illogical for Microsoft to give up its mobile operating system. According to data from several statistical agencies, Microsoft's market share in the global mobile operating system has fallen to around 2.5%, and what's worse is that its market share is declining rather than growing, and is even significantly lower than before it acquired Nokia's mobile phone business.

WP has become a hopeless case, and Nadella is unwilling to be constrained by WP in his mobile-first and cloud-first strategy. Microsoft has launched a large number of Android applications and cooperated with many Android manufacturers on software pre-installation.

If Microsoft launches an Android smartphone as rumored, Microsoft can completely break away from the control of Google (Weibo) and use its own massive application software in the Android ecosystem to build a "country within a country", thereby building its own mobile Internet ecosystem.

However, there are still some factors that prevent Microsoft from giving up the mobile operating system at will.

"One Windows Strategy"

With the launch of the Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft hopes to build a single operating system and application ecosystem that can cover smartphones, tablets, personal computers, game consoles and other IoT devices. The most direct thing is that all Microsoft devices will transition to the "color tile" user interface style.

In order to build a unified Windows 10 ecosystem, Microsoft has stated that it will allow users of old versions of Windows to upgrade to the new system for free within *** years. Of course, Microsoft will also provide free Windows 10 for small mobile devices.

In the new system, Microsoft launched a feature called Continuum, which enables seamless switching and smooth transition between various Windows 10 hardware devices. For example, users can connect a Windows 10 phone to a large-screen device, and the phone's user interface will automatically switch to the computer desktop mode. This means that in the future, high-end Windows 10 phones can even replace some traditional personal computers.

Although Microsoft is weak in the smartphone market, it still accounts for 90% of the computer operating system market share. In other words, Microsoft still hopes to use its monopoly position in the computer market to promote the promotion of Windows 10 in the mobile phone field.

Obviously, if the mobile phone system project is suddenly terminated, it will not be in line with Microsoft's long-term strategy.

Lessons from Android's Past

If Microsoft launches an Android phone, it will be the second time Microsoft has embraced Android. Before the acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business was completed, Nokia had launched two Android phones with customized user interfaces that resembled the colorful tile style of the WP system.

Nokia said at the time that these low-end Android phones could serve as a bridge to gradually transition some Android users to the Microsoft system.

Unfortunately, Nokia misjudged the Android market and users. Users can easily obtain permissions and flash Android phones to switch to other Android systems. In addition, many users around the world need Google's maps, email and other tools. After the two Nokia phones were launched, many users flashed their phones and installed Google's software and services.

This project was very embarrassing for Microsoft. After the acquisition was completed, Microsoft announced the termination of the Android phone project.

With Android allies

After the failure of Nokia's Android phones, Microsoft has a smarter idea about how to take advantage of the Android platform.

Microsoft proposed a software pre-installation strategy, which is to cooperate with many Android phone manufacturers to pre-install a full range of Android software including Microsoft Office. This gives many Android users the opportunity to try Microsoft's software (in the Ballmer era, Microsoft's Android software reached the highest number).

For Microsoft, they no longer have to worry that their Android phones will be flashed by users and migrated to Google's software.

Microsoft's Android pre-installation plan is advancing rapidly. In March, Microsoft signed contracts with Samsung Electronics, Dell and other companies to pre-install software on their Android phones and tablets. In May, Microsoft signed contracts with more than 20 companies, including Sony and LG Electronics.

Obviously, Microsoft already has a large number of partners in promoting its own Android software. It would not be wise for Microsoft to launch an Android phone to compete with these partners.

Porting third-party software to Android and iOS

The most fundamental reason for the failure of Microsoft Windows on smartphones is that there are too few users, which leads to third-party developers having no interest in developing mobile software for Microsoft. The lack of application software has created a vicious cycle, making consumers even less interested in buying Windows phones.

Previously, Microsoft proposed a plan to port Android and iOS applications. Through this plan, iOS and Android software developers can present their applications to Windows phone users at a lower cost. In fact, through the "One Windows" strategy, these applications will also be compatible with Windows computers, tablets and Xbox game consoles after porting.

If iOS and Android developers are really interested in large-scale porting, it will reduce the huge gap in software between Windows phones and Android and iOS. If the mobile phone system project is closed now, the last chance to revive the system by porting software will be lost.

Fool website pointed out that after acquiring Nokia's mobile phone business, Microsoft quickly implemented the "de-Nokia strategy" and replaced "Nokia" with "Microsoft" on mobile phones. However, apart from the brand and the core operating system, it is difficult for Microsoft to give up and turn to Android.

Microsoft may make major announcements in the coming weeks as to whether Nadella, who is implementing a large-scale restructuring, will completely abandon the burden of the mobile operating system and launch Android phones, and whether he will make significant asset write-downs on the mobile phone business to pay the price for Ballmer's failed decisions.