Microsoft rolls out even cheaper 'Notkia' Lumias Windows Phones fanbois aren't happy that there's no new €600 flagship to fondle – but nobody can accuse Microsoft of complacency as it tackles the low-cost smartphone business. Microsoft's Lumia 435 The 435 – the cheapie with the front-facing camera Six months after it revealed its lowest cost model, Microsoft's phones …
Microsoft is joining in a race to the bottom line - unless it finds a way to make those phones more interesting, the "it's cheap" argument is not going to cut it. They are entirely at the wrong point of the value chain, and I can't see this end well. Cheap means no client budget for apps. No budget for apps means no market potential. No market potential means nobody will bother to write apps, which means it'll be an OK phone only, not the app market of service channel MS needs to create revenue.
At least all the Zunes languishing in landfill sites will soon have company.
Alternatively. Being cheap more people will buy them. The nominal size of the Windows Phone market increases which makes it look more tempting to developers (even if in reality the owners aren't prepared to spend money on apps - though there is always advert-paid apps.)
Alternatively. Being cheap more people will buy them. The nominal size of the Windows Phone market increases which makes it look more tempting to developers (even if in reality the owners aren't prepared to spend money on apps - though there is always advert-paid apps.)
My point is that that segment is crowded with other phones. A substantial amount of that market, spend and volume will go to competition. If we were talking about a single competitor, fine, it wouldn't be the first time that MS used its far fatter wallet to starve the competition and then make up for it by using the monopoly position so achieved to raise prices, but that game won't work in this market.
Anyway, I'm not an analyst so I'm probably not qualified to talk about the future (I'm certainly not paid for it), but I just don't see it. The only argument I can see is one of volume. Flog it stupidly cheap and you can claim you have xxx million users, with "users" defined as "people who make calls and are unlikely to stick around if you raise the price", once you have that "volume" it may persuade the more lucrative markets to follow. Now I've worked my way through that argument, that too feels like a massive bet.
I clearly need more beer if I am to see what they are trying to do, I really can't see it.
@AC - a good analysis of the lack of apps issue. Maybe MS' strategy is to sell cheap now (to people who don't really have enough disposable income to fritter on apps); get them locked into OneDrive / the cloud so they can't easily migrate away to another manufacturer; then get their repeat business in two years time when they upgrade. MS' assumption must be that, in two years, they'll be selling a more capable machine that can run apps and the market will take off.
I'll still stick with my Lumina 1020. Its a really good camera phone.
Note: I'm not a Microsoft phone lover, but seriously, you can take really great photos on the phone.
(24MP). Its not going to replace a Nikon or DSLR, but for something that fits in to my front jean's pocket... can't be beat.
Of the new models, the dual sim is a nice idea.
"Yeah, the 1020 is flipping amazing not just as a camera but for video and audio. When you record a live band/gig on it, and play it back in your living room, it actually sounds like you remember it!"
It's even better on the Lumia 930. 4 x HAAC microphones with Dolby Digital Plus recording. No other phone comes close to the Lumias for this. In fact no other phone can even record live music with full dynamic range.
That's been my go-to argument in favour of Lumia ever since my wife got one. Offline maps, freely updated, are a big selling point. However, Nokia have now released Here Maps as an Android app, complete with free offline maps; it's coming to iOS later this year. I've not heard any suggestion that the Android version is inferior to the Windows Phone version. There could still be plenty of reasons to buy a Lumia (or another Windows Phone brand, not that anyone does), but that's one crucial reason significantly weakened. I'm in favour of multiple smartphone OSs - I think the Apple-Google duopoly isn't sufficient for robust innovation - so I'd be sorry if Windows Phone declined further, but we'll see.
My Mum's just decided to get a smartphone. She's a bit of a techophobe in her mid 70s, but skype with the grandchildren, GPS, photos and email are all very imprtant. And she loves her iPad.
Tesco mobile are doing some deal for the measly sum of £7.50 a month. That's 750min of calls, 1,000 texts and about 200MB of data. And for that and a 2 year contract you get a Nokia Lumia 735 too. Which is a £170 phone! I don't know if it's about to replaced and Tesco have too many, but that's stupidly cheap for what's a decent phone.
... this is another facet to Microsoft's current privacy stance.
People are becoming increasingly wary of Google - if this loss of trust snowballs and spills over into Android, it could open a potentially huge gap in the market... low cost smartphones that can be trusted with private data.
Of course, it will be an uphill battle for Microsoft, given their past... which makes me wonder if they're trying to lay the groundwork in an attempt to overcome this and be ready to jump in.
Given their track record, Microsoft are due a "right" decision, simply by laws of averages and the fact they've made so many crap ones over the last few years!
Maybe...
... this is another facet to Microsoft's current privacy stance.
People are becoming increasingly wary of Google - if this loss of trust snowballs and spills over into Android, it could open a potentially huge gap in the market... low cost smartphones that can be trusted with private data.
No, as I have posted many, many times before, Microsoft doesn't have a hope in hell in that fight (neither has Google, by the way), and trying to get the EU involved to solve a problem that originates in US law is not going to work either.
Microsoft will have to comply, not just because it's US law but also because the US legal system cannot afford the precedent of a company only following the laws it likes (OK, Wall Street is pretty much the poster child for that, but Microsoft is not a bank. Anyway, back to topic).
If MS wants to change the fundamentals that break any possibility of a US company protecting privacy for clients local and abroad it will have to follow the usual route like everyone else: pour truckloads of money into lobbying and campaign sponsoring, and that *still* won't help with the current process. The only thing MS can do to avoid handing over data is to get the order somehow cancelled or withdrawn, and I'm not sure that's even possible.
MS will have to comply. They may spin that end result any way they want, but unless the order is somehow rescinded they will have to comply, period. This has less to do with the fact that it's Microsoft than with the issue that is a US company.
I must admit to a wry smile that I saw Google screeching for privacy as well, though. Clearly, Google management has no sense of irony :)
"So they are dragging the hardware down to the same level as the OS, namely rubbish"
They perform much better than similarly priced / specd Android phones. And the Windows Phone OS is in general far better performing and less laggy, has better battery life on the same hardware and has vastly better security than Android.
If this continuous feed into the windows phone market means they will replace the 1020 at some point with something that has the sensor-core stuff and wireless charging built in then they will have willing purchasers in almost all 1020 owners.
I would rather have fewer screen pixels than fewer camera pixels so a 930 is nice but not for me.
It would suit the brand to make it waterproof to go with the general rugged nature too, it is more reasonable on a high end phone.
In the meantime, I really do like my 1020 even if I preferred the 920 for general feel and robustness.
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