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July 28 news, according to foreign media reports, through Microsoft's mobile device strategy, people can see that the software giant based in Redmond, Washington has not given up.
Microsoft was once a leader in the smartphone industry, launching its own mobile operating system long before Apple's iOS and Google's Android were born. Since then, the company has adjusted its plans several times, including launching Windows Phone in 2010, but the market response was sparse.
Then, in early 2014, the company acquired Nokia's mobile phone business. Nokia was once Microsoft's largest partner and once the world's leading mobile phone company. Microsoft believed that if it could not attract users with Windows Phone, it would establish a dominant position through acquisition. But now, it seems that Microsoft has wasted billions of dollars on this unsuccessful business.
All of the following reflect the failure of the company's mobile phone business: Microsoft's software products have less than 3% of the smartphone market; the iPhone and Android devices still have the world's largest developer community; Microsoft wrote down the acquired Nokia assets by as much as $8.4 billion, resulting in the largest single-quarter loss in the company's history; there were 25,000 employees from the Nokia unit, and Microsoft laid off most of them.
So why doesn't Microsoft give up? Even those in the industry don't know why.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company will not give up its mobile phone business.
"I will focus on driving growth across our portfolio of devices, including phones," Nadella said in a statement earlier this month. The company plans to continue making low-cost phones, mid-range products for business users and high-end flagship models under the Lumia brand.
What Nadella really meant to say was that mobile is a key component of Windows 10, the new operating system that the company plans to launch on the 29th of this month, which has been redesigned for Windows Phone and will be launched under the name Windows 10 Mobile.
"We are changing our strategy from a single mobile phone business to building and developing a comprehensive Windows ecosystem, including mobile phones produced by the company," Nadella said. In Microsoft's eyes, mobile phones as products to compete with other manufacturers are obviously not as important as part of the company's strategy, even if the business continues to lose money.
That's because Windows 10, which will be launched on Wednesday, will span all of the company's business units, including PCs, Xbox One and mobile devices. The company is working to make the operating system more attractive to consumers and developers. For consumers, one of the key features is the ability to provide a consistent user experience across platforms. For software developers, Microsoft's main feature is that applications can be written once and then run on any other device running Windows with only minor changes.
Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans said the move was a pragmatic one that would allow Microsoft to refocus on its areas of success, which are the company's foundation.
Microsoft wants consumers to have a consistent experience with apps, and these apps can run on any device. This means that if a user plugs a smartphone into a PC monitor, it can be used as a desktop computer, and the app will recognize and adapt to the larger screen size. This feature is called "Continuum" and is one of the key differentiating competitive advantages that Windows 10 Mobile has over its competitors.
"If the company can really offer a phone that can be transformed into a desktop PC without sacrificing performance, it will undoubtedly attract some users," Koninghans said. The above scenario also reflects the strategic position of the mobile platform in the company from the side, that is, the company's mobile platform can do things that competitors' products cannot do.
“Perhaps the company’s purpose is to appeal to a certain range of consumers rather than just going out and hitting the broader market,” Koninghans said. “If they want to have any kind of success, they have to have a unique competitive advantage.”
If the mobile phone business is like a sinking ship, Microsoft undoubtedly still has a few lifeboats.
Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has taken a different approach to gain a foothold in the mobile space. Since the company announced the launch of the iPad version of Office in February 2014, many products are no longer sold at a fixed price, but are provided to users in a free form with basic functions. Microsoft now provides Word, Excel and PowerPoint for free to users of Apple iOS and Google Android systems, which highlights the company's determination to make a major transformation and break free from the constraints of the past.
For users who have already experienced Word on iPhone, they are more likely to pay for Office 365, which is a subscription service launched by the company that provides users with all the functions of the desktop version of the Office suite. In fact, this move is called the "freemium" model, where software developers provide users with the opportunity to try the basic functions of the software product for free, hoping to attract them to pay for more functions in the future.
"Windows and related services are becoming the first choice for companies to implement this kind of business model," Koninghans said. "But their targets are not limited to Windows, but also other platforms, including web browsers, iOS, Android and even Mac."
But the question remains: why does Microsoft still hold on to its mobile phone business despite consuming so many resources?
In this regard, some analysts described the company's actions as meeting the definition of madness. They repeat the same thing over and over again, hoping to see different results each time.
Of course, one reason could be that the hardware business isn't completely stagnant. In the most recent quarter, the company sold 8.4 million Lumia phones, while also selling tens of millions of non-Lumia phones at the low end of the market, which means there are a significant number of consumers who want some kind of support from Microsoft.
At the same time, the company wants to be in the spotlight and show off its efforts in the mobile field. In April this year, at the Build developer conference, the company told developers how easy it is to port applications from iOS and Android platforms to Windows Phone!
The company hopes that the next hit messaging app, Snapchat, or the popular ride-hailing app, Uber, will no longer ignore the existence of Microsoft's platform.
Perhaps these are the reasons why Microsoft still retains its mobile phone business. For Microsoft executives, the reasons are enough. Because all the growth now happens on mobile phones, if you don't have a mobile phone, you will be left behind.
As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
