Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Development
    • Mobile

    Apple, Android NPD Numbers Suggest Way Forward for Windows Phone

    By
    Nicholas Kolakowski
    -
    February 7, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      How can Windows Phone claim a bigger chunk of the smartphone market?

      Since Microsoft released the first iteration of Windows Phone in late 2010, pundits and analysts of all stripes have picked over the best way to answer that question. For Microsoft itself, of course, any answer is more than purely academic: considering the amount spent to build and promote the platform, and lower-than-expected sales over the past few quarters, it needs a viable strategy for making Windows Phone a viable competitor to Google Android and Apple€™s iPhone.

      Some new data from The NPD Group, although ostensibly about the latter two platforms, hints at a way forward for Windows Phone.

      That data, issued as part of a Feb. 6 research report, described how Apple had passed Samsung and LG to become €œthe best-selling U.S. handset brand in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011.€ Although Google Android took a larger share of smartphone unit sales as a whole, no individual Android smartphone managed to outpace any of the three different iPhone versions currently on the market.

      Ross Rubin, executive director of Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, wrote in a Feb. 6 note accompanying the data that customers were attracted to the iPhone 4S because of its €œfaster processor, improved camera and Siri speech-driven agent.€

      But that€™s not to discount Android€™s own unique strengths. €œAndroid has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors,€ he added, €œbut the company€™s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers.€

      Based on that analysis, how can Windows Phone carve its own niche? It involves a dual-headed strategy: a set of high-end devices that appeal to the same demographic lusting after the iPhone 4S, paired with a host of midrange devices offered via multiple carriers.

      Microsoft and its manufacturing partners are already pursuing the beginnings of such a strategy. Nokia€™s Lumia 800 and 900 are a pair of new smartphones, for example, aimed at the market€™s higher end; the Finnish phone maker is accompanying those with the Lumia 710, meant to appeal to the broad middle range of consumers. Samsung is also marketing toward that range, with a Focus Flash on AT&T that retails for $49 with a two-year contract.

      In conversations with eWEEK at this January€™s Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft executives made it clear that they would continue to push Windows Phones at a variety of price points. €œTop to bottom, we€™ll have the best story,€ said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Windows Phone.

      That leaves the question of whether, with such a strategy in place, Windows Phone can successfully dislodge the various Google Android manufacturers (some of whom also make Windows Phones) and Apple from their well-entrenched places within the market. Microsoft plans on devoting more marketing resources to Windows Phone; certain partners€”most notably Nokia, which is basically betting its future on the platform€”will contribute their own funds to the effort.

      Even if Microsoft doesn€™t succeed in getting a significant number of customers to switch over to Windows Phone, another potential market awaits: people who€™ve never owned a smartphone before, and might want an easy-to-use, entry-level device along the lines of the Lumia 710 or Focus Flash. But convincing that demographic to go with Windows Phone will likewise require a sizable investment.

      In other words, Microsoft might have a winning strategy in place, but it€™ll need to deploy all the marketing and logistical muscle at its disposal in order to start making serious headway against Google and Apple.

      Follow Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter

      Avatar
      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×