Why hasn't Microsoft made a good smartphone despite spending so much money?

In the second half of 2011, Lumia 800 was launched in the public eye. At that time, Nokia's shipment volume was still the world's number one. Its industrial design similar to N9 amazed the world, and its price was once comparable to that of Apple 4s. Both Microsoft and Nokia were full of expectations for Lumia.

Although Nokia's U-turn was a little late, it was not yet at the point of no return. With Nokia's outstanding industrial design and Microsoft's strong R&D capabilities, Nokia's future did not seem as bad as imagined.

But first of all, the high pricing strategy has kept a large number of users out. Although Lumia 800 has a polycarbonate one-piece design, Zeiss certified lens, Joy-Screen technology, and is the first to use a 2.5D screen, its configuration lags behind the 4S and Android flagships of the same period.

This phone, which costs over 4,000 yuan, actually uses a single-core processor, has a resolution of 800×480, and does not have a front camera! The Lumia 900 released later has the same hardware, but the screen is larger and supports a front camera and 4G.

It's understandable that the flagship is priced so high, after all, it is the symbol of its own brand. But the price of the mid-to-low-end 7 series, 6 series, and 5 series, which are the main promotion and sales force, is also ridiculously high, which is a bit unbelievable. I remember that the launch price of 620 was 1999. The Xiaomi 2, which was launched at about the same time, was also 1999 and was sold out instantly. Even if we don't compare it with Xiaomi, the price-performance ratio of Android models around 2,000 yuan at that time was far higher than Lumia 620.

Of course, we can’t just compete on configurations. Nokia’s workmanship was incomparable to Xiaomi’s at the time. However, we must consider that WP is a new system. It is undoubtedly not conducive to the promotion of the system to hastily set such a high price when its ecosystem is not yet complete. Especially when Android manufacturers relied on low prices to develop mobile terminals, Microsoft and Nokia’s arrogant attitude dug a big hole for themselves.

Later, Microsoft figured it out and launched Lumia 520, which became the best-selling model of WP. But Microsoft started to go astray...

However, Nokia still carried forward its excellent quality of being the king of price reduction. After a big price drop, I bought a Lumia 900. Whether it was the appearance, feel or quality, it was a first-class experience. However, the system experience was a bummer.

Metro UI is very beautiful and leads the current trend of flat design. However, a series of problems such as the lack of volume for ringtones and music, WiFi disconnection when the lock screen is turned off, and no rotation lock screen make it uncomfortable to use. Of course, these are all minor problems, but it took Microsoft nearly 3 years to solve these minor problems, and the rotation lock screen was not solved until WP8 GDR3!!

The lack of third-party applications or poor experience is an old problem that Microsoft has not solved yet, and we can only hope for win10. But to be honest, in the WP7.5 era, the experience gap between third-party applications was acceptable, and many developers were willing to try. It was just that it was further widened in the WP8 era, and was successfully ignored.

From a developer's perspective, Microsoft's SDK version updates are sometimes very fast, but they have never been sound, and the permissions they are willing to open are very few.

Of course, for Lumia users, the most painful thing is not this, but the fact that WP7.5 system cannot be upgraded to WP8, which made a lot of people cry. Fortunately, the launch of Lumia920 saved the hearts of many users. At that time, the market share of WP system in China once exceeded 4%, which seemed good and had a bright future...

Haha, finally Microsoft has cheated developers again after successfully cheating users once.

After WP8 changed its kernel, WP8.1 changed its API, which meant that third-party applications had to be redeveloped if they wanted to be updated, which increased the workload. For the WP platform, third-party developers were mostly individuals or small studios, so they chose to leave...

Ecosystem applications are a dead cycle of chicken and egg. If the number of users does not increase, developers will not pay attention to them. If developers do not pay attention to them, the third-party experience will be poor. If the third-party experience is poor, users will not buy them!

Who made Microsoft set the price of the phone so high in the beginning? Who made Microsoft cheat users and developers for no reason? It's asking for trouble!

Finally, since Lumia 920, have you seen Lumia series ads on TV, newspapers, buses, etc.? They just disappeared...

And the marketing team of Nokia/Microsoft Lumia is just a bunch of shit. I seriously suspect that they are just brushing data to get by. In the tide of social marketing, they have organized many activities, posted many Weibo posts, and shot many videos, but, they all disappeared...

The data is all very nice, damn, has anyone seen it?! It reminds me of the days when a certain Korean mobile phone brand was brushing data...

This mobile phone brand is ranked second in Korea. As for China, the so-called social media marketing is outrageous (all kinds of cliques, pretending to know something when they don't know it). Everyone is focused on brushing data to get the job done, haha. Then you rarely see this mobile phone brand in China.

However, the Lumia marketing team also has its difficulties. It has been a long time since Nokia launched the Lumia 930, and this Lumia 930 is the international version of the Lumia 929 from half a year ago! It can be said that from the end of 2013 to now, Microsoft has not launched a real flagship!

Microsoft is aware of the significance of low-end devices to the WP system. It can increase shipments and acquire more users by cost-effectiveness. This idea is correct, but it should be stopped at a certain point. Don't go down the wrong path. Where is the flagship?

But I believe that it is because the development of Windows 10 Mobile cannot keep up. Since upgrading to the WP10 preview version, my Lumia 620 has become a complete decoration, haha.

You asked me where my Lumia 830 went? Here I have to talk about the advantages of WP, because I think Lumia 830 is not much different from Lumia 620 in terms of usage, so I bought it early and sold it at a good price. In the following week, Lumia 830 dropped sharply from 2499!

However, why am I still waiting for the win10 flagship? Because I haven’t given up yet.

Although Microsoft had many things to complain about before, we have also seen changes in Microsoft. For example, the hardware configuration has gradually caught up, such as the Lumia 640 with a 720P screen, a Snapdragon 400 processor (although everyone uses 410), and an 8-megapixel camera. Although we won't use them, we can buy them for our parents.

Big screen, big font, big icon, loud volume, good signal! Most importantly, it looks good and is backed by a big brand! It is tailor-made for us parents.

Um... that's a bit off topic. Although five years have passed and WP has become 1%, and many people are desperate, I believe that as long as Microsoft doesn't make particularly outrageous mistakes, it can still occupy a certain market share with Win10.

In the era when Android was being criticized, WP did not seize the opportunity. When Android 5.0 appeared, WP's chances became even slimmer. But will the Internet of Things become an opportunity for Windows 10?

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.