Microsoft’s latest foray into the smartphone market begins as the Windows Phone 8 goes on sale. Whilst reviewers and the relative few who bought the Windows Phone 7 praised the product, sales were slow despite the fast-growing market. Even with more features and improvements on the original, it would seem that many people are reluctant to stray from their iPhone or Android counterparts.
The story of Microsoft having a great product that fails to impress the masses sounds strangely familiar to Microsoft’s venture into the gaming market. X-Box was first launched back in 2001, but until recent years has always been placed behind Nintendo and Sony in the market. After some necessary tweaks, and the launch of X-Box Live, the X-Box is now a very close second behind Sony’s Playstation3.
The big pull for the Windows Phone 8 will be Microsoft itself; with software provided by Microsoft Office, Skype and Windows 8, it would seem that just like Apple and Google, Microsoft is building an ecosystem of gadgets that will work harmoniously together. Speaking about Windows Phone and Windows in a video Blog, Bill Gates said, “It’s evolving, literally, into being a single platform.”
“The signs are that many users will to migrate to Windows 8 over the next few years,” comments Greg Poulson of Freetimers. “If this happens, it looks possible that Windows Phone 8 could prove considerably more successful than its predecessor.”
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