Until recently, the difference between Apple’s iOS mobile devices and the plethora of companies making Google’s Android phones and tablets was easy to describe: More people may use the cheaper Android devices, but a majority of the revenue from mobile devices came from Apple. Across the board, iPhone and iPad users downloaded more apps, paid more for them, were more lucrative targets for mobile advertising, and bought more stuff on their devices than Android users.
New data shows that in addition to overtaking Apple’s mobile market share, Android is also catching up in terms of its share of mobile revenue. The change explains in part why Google wants to create an “Android Silver” class of superior smartphones with major manufacturers: to eliminate iPhone’s superiority in terms of platform quality and the wealth of its users.
While Apple is still ahead in the monetization of those users, its lead is shrinking there also. Here are Opera’s market share numbers, based on 64 billion ad impressions served to 500 million consumers:
Percent of traffic: Android 42.83% (up from 31.26%) iOS 38.17% (down from 44.53%)
Percent of revenue: iOS 52.7% (up from 49.23%) Android 33.46% (up from 26.72%)
"Last year at this time, agencies were still saying, 'Hey, I prefer iOS users,'" said Mahi de Silva, CEO of Opera Mediaworks. He said Apple's operating system delivered deeper engagement and a glossier platform. That's no longer the case. "The quality of the advertising that we can deliver on a Samsung and Android device is pretty much on par with an iOS," Mr. de Silva added.
The catchup comes after Android recently surpassed Apple in app downloads, according to app download measurement company App Annie. iPhone’s dominance in apps used to come from the fact that Apple insisted on higher-quality standards for apps, and because the users were more lucrative, app developers made more apps for them, and the app experience on Apple was richer. Thus there were more apps, and more downloads happening on iOS than on Android. But for some time now there have been more apps available in the Google Play store than in the iOS App Store, and now more downloads occur from Google Play than in the App Store.
Again, revenue from those apps is less on Android than Apple. But it’s another area where the gap is closing.
And now there is even one area where Android has surpassed Apple in terms of revenue: mobile phone shopping.
Android still has some way to go before it reaches dominance in e-commerce and mobile payments. Generally, shopping revenue per user on Android is far behind Apple in terms of retail. But data from Monetate — which measures e-commerce referrals on mobile devices to online stores — has found that the average order value on Android was $136 in Q4 2013, but it was only $126 on the iPhone in the same period.
What would your ultimate iPhone case offer? Extra battery life? Rugged design? Would it make your iPhone waterproof? If you said yes to any or all of those you might like to meet the Snow Lizard SLXtreme 5. It looks like something Bear Grylls would strap to his waistband, dangling while he throws himself off the nearest waterfall. In short, it’s possibly something you’d want with you, along with your iPhone 5 or 5S, if you were in a survival situation but it’s also one of the most extreme iPhone cases ever made.
It’s clearly designed to protect your AppleAAPL-0.1% device from the odd drop or scrape – the side cushions are rubber and there’s a good deal of plastic between your phone and the outside world. However, you’ve also probably noticed it’s rather large too.
There’s a good reason for this – actually several reasons; not only is your iPhone completely waterproof once inside, but the SLXtreme 5 has a built-in 2500mAh battery (enough to charge an iPhone 5 from flat about one and a half times), that can be activated to charge your phone when its battery is low.
It doesn’t stop there, though, as the SLXtreme 5 has a large solar panel on the rear that can top-up the battery if you’re away from mains power for long periods – such as being marooned on a desert island. So that’s waterproof, an extended battery and solar-powered charging in a case that’s nearly bomb-proof.
A closer look reveals just how the waterproofing works, with channels around the end cap, sealed by a rubber insert and a large pull-down lever on the side to apply enough force to keep water out, at least up to a depth of 2m/6.6ft.
The front section has small outlets for the speakers and a working home button – this can be used under water, although as I found, the screen stops working once completely submerged. Thankfully the side buttons are fully-functional too so taking pictures under water is possible.
The base of the device also opens up, revealing a plug for the headphone port, a standard micro-USB charging port and a locking ring to secure the base closed. The charging port is inaccessible while the base is closed for obvious reasons but the included headphone extension cable appears to be able to seal off the port so you can connect a 3.5mm minijack to the end while the device is submerged.
Also included is a neck band and carabiner clip, although attaching the latter means you can’t open the base. There’s plenty of scope for using your iPhone as an underwater torch too, as the rear lens and LED section is exposed.
The rear of the SLXtreme 5 features a solar cell with 10 segments, a battery charge indicator and battery toggle button that you can use to activate the battery to charge the phone. By default, on plugging the SLXtreme 5 into a USB port, your phone will be charged first, then the SLXtreme 5′s internal battery.
The charge level indicator LEDs have four levels, with the final LED also twilighting as a solar power indicator, flashing when there’s enough light to begin charging the internal battery. It will likely take days to charge the battery, even in direct sunlight – we managed to obtain enough power for an 7% iPhone battery boost in several hours in direct sunlight and Snow Lizard claims roughly 10-15 minutes of talktime per hour of peak charging – clearly your shouldn’t rely on this as a regular source of power but it’s potentially useful in specific scenarios.
Finally the leak test. Whether its watching an episode of something on NetflixNFLX+1.04% in the bath or leaping from the nearest waterfall while listening to an appropriate sound track, the SLXtreme 5 is most definitely a waterproof housing for your iPhone 5/5S – no leaks to report here. Is it an every day case though? Sadly not. It’s bulky, measuring 25mm thick and 15cm tall and also adds 150g to the weight of your phone. You also need to open the base to use the USB port, the screen often isn’t quite as responsive as using the iPhone on its own and the speakers are muffled by the case too.
Encounters with bubbles usually mean you’ll be buying a smartphone the next day…
However, if you’re accident-prone or just prone to throwing yourself down hills and through mud on your bike, camping in damp places, swimming, surfing, otherwise going places that can see your gear covered in muck and soaked, then this is the perfect weekend iPhone case.
It’s also great for streaming video in places a little closer to home such as pools and bath tubs – places that have no doubt killed more smartphones than your average bike trail or waterfall. There’s also a chest mount for GoPro-like movie recording and a soon-to-be-released mounting bike mount too. Whether it’s worth the $150 asking price will likely depend how at risk your iPhone is though.In any event, you can check out Snow Lizard’s website here and let me know what you think in the comments.
Last Friday, Microsoft finally took control as the new owner of Nokia’s devices business, but it’s coming into its new position as a mobile hardware maker with no less a challenge than Nokia has had for the last couple of years.
According to the latest 12-week figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech — a market research division of WPP — Windows Phone accounted for 8.1% of smartphone sales in the 12 weeks to the end of March across the top five markets in Europe (the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany), with Android taking 70.7% of sales and iOS 19.2%.
And Europe seems to be Windows Phone’s best market at the moment. In the U.S. Windows Phone took 5.3% of sales, while in Australia it took just under 6%; in China it was 1%; and in Japan, just under 1%.
What’s going on? Put simply, the Windows Phone operating system running Nokia’s and other devices remains a distant third when it comes to smartphone sales in key markets across Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
And that has a double effect. First, in the game of economies of scale, Microsoft will find it more challenging. Second, in the game of mindshare among consumers and developers, it means that Windows Phone devices are for many still not appearing as must-haves either in terms of device ownership, nor in terms of platforms for building new apps and other services.
At issue for Windows Phone is the double pressure of price and volume of Android handsets, with both playing a big role in keeping Windows Phone largely locked out of the smartphone boom. That boom has seen markets like the UK reach smartphone penetration of 71%, with smartphones accounting for 88% of mobile sales. That’s opportunity for those who are clicking with consumers and carriers.
Dominic Sunnebo, a director at Kantar, writes that the main challenge for Windows is that Nokia, very much the main and dominant Windows Phone OEM, has based a lot of its fightback strategy on wooing new smartphone users with entry-level phones. The problem is that these devices have not managed to compete well enough with the Android camp.
“Windows had a tough start to the year as a result of its entry-level Nokia models facing fierce competition from low-end Motorola, LG and Samsung Android smartphones,” he writes.
Even before being taken over by Microsoft, Nokia’s device fate had become inextricably connected to that of Redmond.
“Nokia really is the vast majority of Windows now, so any trend you see for Windows is being driven by Nokia,” Sunnebo told me in an interview. “Essentially Nokia was starting to make some real headway with its entry level Lumia 520, particularly in capturing first time Smartphone buyers and those transitioning across from Symbian….it arguably had the best entry level device.
“Now, we’re starting to see some really compelling competition at this end of the market from the likes of Motorola (with Moto G) and Samsung (heavily discounted S3 & mini models) eating into prime Nokia territory.”
He also points out that moves from up-and-coming Chinese brands to expand outside of their home market — think Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus here — are now also going to make the breakthrough challenge even harder.
“There is an increasing realization amongst consumers that the difference between the high-end and low-end is becoming very fine,” he says. “This could play to Nokia’s advantage (it makes great entry level devices), but it certainly won’t be alone in pushing great spec devices at low/mid prices.”
Interestingly, Apple continues to fight the Android juggernaut in its own, high-end way. Sunnebo says that its sales saw a bounce back in Europe, Japan and Australia largely on the “strong performance” of the 5S model at the top of its range.
But “bounce back” and “strong performance” are relative terms: the margin between Android and iOS continues to widen, with Android at over 70% of sales in five of the markets surveyed by Kantar.
Nevertheless, in specific markets Apple continues to trounce Android. In Japan, Apple is still the dominant smartphone brand, with nearly 57% of sales. Specifically, it’s taking 42% of smartphone sales on NTT DoCoMo, 59% on KDDI AU and 81% on Softbank, Kantar notes.
Why? Apple has found the right mix of design, 4G access and device reliability that resonates with Japanese consumers. “Japan’s love affair with Apple shows no sign of fading,” Sunnebo notes. He also points out that this has a knock-on effect for the iPad, with nearly a quarter of Japanese iPhone owners also owning an Apple tablet.
But while Apple has kept a fairly big space between the sizes for an iPad and iPhone, in fact in Asia the real story is about the effect of devices that are increasingly appearing in between the two. In China, it notes that devices with a screen larger than 5” made up 40% of smartphone sales in March.
“It’s clear that phablets really are changing the way Chinese consumers use smartphones,” Sunnebo writes. “More than one in five phablet owners now watch mobile TV on a daily basis, half do so at least once a month, and this is without the widespread availability of 4G. As 4G infrastructure expands in China, the demand for data is going to be unprecedented, paving the way for carriers to boost revenues significantly through larger data packages.”
While Apple has effectively taken a trickle-down approach with older models and those with less storage to court new smartphone buyers, the question remains whether it will choose to sidestep this other trend as well, or jump into it with its own take on the iPhablet.
We take a look at how the iPhone 6 phablet rumours compare to Samsung's Galaxy Note 3
Now I know what you’re thinking: the iPhone 6 vs the Galaxy Note 3? They’re like chalk and cheese. Why bother comparing them? Well, to an extent that’s true, but the rumours about the iPhone 6 (and at the moment that is literally all we have to go on) are increasingly suggesting we’ll see a bigger, phablet-like iPhone in late 2014.
The iPhone 6 is suspected to be the first handset issued by Apple to embrace a larger display. Current rumours suggest Apple is testing a variety of sizes, anywhere from between 4.5 to 5.2-inches. It’s also highly likely we’ll see a dual-launch, just as we did with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.
Just how – or, if – Apple will address the phablet question remains to be seen, although there are plenty of sources claiming multiple display sizes for the company’s next-generation handset: maybe a “normal-sized” iPhone and a brand new “large iPhone”. Either way – the idea of a larger iPhone, whatever Apple ends up doing in the end, is a pretty tantilising prospect.
So with that in mind, I thought we’d have a look at what the rumours say about this potential Note 3 style iPhone 6 and how it compares to Samsung’s current champion.
As usual for our rumour comparisons, please bear in mind that this is largely going to be based on gossip circulating on the web of varying levels of believability and from sources of varying levels of trustworthiness. This shouldn’t be considered absolute, it’s merely a discussion about interesting possibilities.
So without further ado, let’s get to it.
Design, build and display
According to the latest batch of reports out of China, and a few older mumblings too, Apple will be creating a larger-screened handset in 2014 which may be called the iPhone 6, though some are now calling it the iPhone Air in light of the new iPad Air’s name change.
While some sources suggest it could be a 4.8-inch device, hardly phablet territory, there’s also talk of anywhere between 5-inches and 6-inches, though it has been implied there may be multiple models just as we saw with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. We may be looking at a 4.8-inch “standard” model to replace the iPhone 5S and a larger 5-inch-6-inch model as a phablet competitor.
Consistently with rumours of Apple implementing larger screens there’s a lot of talk surroundingedge-to-edge displays with extremely thin bezels and cramming the touchscreen into as small a chassis as possible. For one thing, this is happening more and more with Apple rivals, including Samsung devices, and for another Apple has done it with the iPad Mini and iPad Air. It’s a good way for Apple to keep its handset from getting too unwieldy while implementing that larger screen so many consumers seem to want.
I’d still expect to see a thin and relatively lightweight aluminium-backed chassis and a reappearance of Apple’s Touch ID Home button. Generally the phone should be just as well-made and feature familiar Apple stylistic touches, trading on the iPhone brand’s premium image, just on a larger scale and with a massive screen.
What about the tech on offer? Well there’s a lot of talk suggesting Apple might switch from its current IPS LCD setup, earlier we’ve seen mention of IGZO screens but most recently Apple has reportedly taken an interest in high-end OLED panels. Will Apple continue to keep the pixel density at around the 326 pixels-per-inch (ppi) mark? Well if it goes for a larger 5-inch plus screen it’ll certainly need to consider going full HD 1080p to keep this level of clarity.
Another rumour claims Apple will aim to reinforce the display to make it much more durable than ever before. Currently it uses Gorilla Glass, which is still prone to breaking when dropped, but Apple may be looking at expanding its use of Sapphire Glass, which is currently used for the camera port and Touch ID Home key, to cover the entire display in the ultra-tough material. Sapphire Glass is thought to be two and a half times stronger than Gorilla Glass and is said to be able to smash concrete without shattering.
A new Apple patent suggests the next iPhone could feature a wrap-around Sapphire Glass display, designed as a hollow "tube". This could be implemented similarly to concept renders we've seen before, where the whole phone is glass capped at each end with another material (probably aluminium, in Apple's case).
Another patent also points to Apple experimenting with "quantum dot" screen tech for more natural colour reproduction.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 is already there of course with its 5.7-inch Super AMOLED, full HD 1080p resolution and 386ppi pixel density which offers fantastic visual quality, sharpness, colour, contrast and brightness, as well as good viewing angles. The screen is larger than its predecessor’s 5.3-inch display but the phone is more or less the same size while being thinner, lighter and better balanced with a slim bezel. While Samsung’s build quality is good it doesn’t embrace premium feel materials in the same way Apple does and although the soft-touch faux leather plastic rear-panel is an improvement on the old glossy finish it’s still not quite up there with Apple’s stylish build. Still, the Galaxy Note 3 is unquestionably an attractive phone to look at, but I have a feeling Apple’s iPhone phablet will come out on top here.
iPhone 6: Predictions, Predictions, Predictions
We know there will be an iPhone in 2014 and it’s likely to be called either the iPhone 6 or iPhone Air. It’s also looking pretty certain Apple will be following suit on last years dual-iPhone handset release. Rumours suggest there will be two versions available with two different sized screens: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch. Even the smallest version is more than half an inch bigger than the current version.
The outer design of the handset looks like it’ll still be build out of high-end materials, no plastic here. It’s bound to be one of the thinnest handsets we’ve ever seen too, rumour is Apple is working on an ultra-thin battery to make it all possible.
Both handsets are bound to feature TouchID features alongside an A8 processor and probably 1GB of RAM as well. iOS 8 will probably come as standard as well. That’ll bring about a load of health and fitness features as well as some neat ideas with TouchID. Storage wise we may also see the biggest iPhone option yet, 128GB. If not, you can still expect to see the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions on sale.
For all the full up to date run down on the iPhone 6, head over to this article. We’ve collated every rumour worth noting and built a pretty solid picture of what the handset will look like when it’s unleashed on the world.
Storage, connectivity and hardware
Samsung offers its usual selection of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage options together withmicroSD support for cards up to 64GB. Apple has traditionally not offered microSD and also hits the same internal storage options. One question hovering over the iPhone 6/ iPhone Air phablet is whether or not the larger size will allow Apple to squeeze in a 128GB variant. The company has demonstrated it’s rather fond of this higher-capacity storage option adding it to both its full-size iPad and iPad Mini ranges, which makes me think it’ll put it in the iPhone 6 as well.
Connectivity is pretty standardised for high-end devices at this point – as many 4G LTE bands as you can cram in, full 3G with HSPA+, a range of Wi-Fi options, GPS and Bluetooth. Apple tends to shy away from MHL and NFC and has introduced its own iBeacons alternative for the latter, and of course it uses the proprietary Lightning connector in place of microUSB. I’d expect none of this to change on the next handset.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 uses microUSB, MHL, NFC, DLNA and infrared in addition to the standard stuff.
I’d expect Apple’s Touch ID Home button to make a return on the next flagship. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 doesn’t have an equivalent, but whether you value a fingerprint scanner will of course dictate who the winner is in this regard.
Battery
Bigger phones tend to mean bigger battery packs, which in turn help to get more life from a single charge. Samsung has certainly delivered on this front once again with the Galaxy Note 3, which packs a 3,200mAh removable cell, allowing you to hot-swap replacements if you wish.
The iPhone 6 will likely continue as a sealed unit and I’m sure Apple will take advantage of the larger chassis by putting a bigger battery in there. Even though it doesn’t actually need to, as the most recent batch of iDevices has demonstrated. Apple’s used the same sized battery in the iPhone 5S as its predecessor but has squeezed a longer lifespan out of it. On the larger iPad Air it actually has a slightly smaller battery than its predecessor and still offers longer battery life. Such is Apple’s ability to optimise.
Combining this optimisation with a larger cell should make an iPhone 6 phablet quite impressive.
Camera
The camera aboard Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 is way more capable than its fairly humble sounding spec would suggest and it is, for me, one of the standout features of the device. It sports a 13-megapixel back-illuminated sensor (BSI), LED flash, digital image stabilisation and both 1080p and 2160p (4K/Ultra HD) video recording. Image quality is excellent with really nice colour saturation, detail and clarity, plus it’s a tremendously easy to use point-and-shoot camera.
Apple’s also made big improvements to the iPhone 5S’s camera while keeping a relatively modest spec sheet. It’s still an 8-megapixel iSight BSI configuration but the sensor has been enlarged and tweaked for greater light sensitivity. A number of back-end modifications have improved the camera’s ability to adapt and configure to shooting conditions and part of this is the True Tone dual LED flash with both amber and white LEDs, which can adapt to improve colours.
Not much has been said at this point about what camera capabilities the iPhone 6 could have. Potentially Apple may stick to its guns and simply tweak its existing 8-megapixel setup, which is currently wowing users and critics the world over. Of course we may also see Apple bumping up to a 13-megapixel sensor.
What has been said is rather interesting though. Apple is reportedly working on implementing a "Lytro" like 3D sensor for the iPhone 6. Lytro technology enables users to capture an image and dynamically alter the focal point at a later date - this can be done repeatedly and at any time.
The obvious benefit of this kind of technology inside the iPhone 6 is it allows users to "fire and forget" on a photo opportunity and then tweak it for a perfect image later.
Software
Samsung’s been dealing with larger screen real-estate for a while now and has honed its phablet software pretty nicely. This includes some of the best multitasking currently available in the mobile space, thanks to a combination of default Android multitasking, windowed applications and the ability to split the screen between two apps.
Apart from this the Galaxy Note 3 enjoys all the usual Android perks.
Apple has made massive improvements to iOS 7 in terms of functionality, but it is difficult to imagine how the company might adjust things for iOS 8. On its tablets, Apple considers having apps optimised for the larger display to be a major bonus, but there doesn’t seem to be much thought given to multi-app screen sharing.
Critics have derided Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business, but the deal may be closing at the perfect moment—during a slowdown in smartphone innovation.
The acquisition closed Friday after an almost eight-month long approval process. The new subsidiary, dubbed the Microsoft Mobile and the Devices division and headed by former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, has a tremendous amount of work to do to become a serious contender either at the high end or low end of the smartphone market.
However, this may be an opportune time for Microsoft and its thousands of new employees. Innovation has slowed down in the high-end segment of the mobile phone market. New products such as the Galaxy S5 from Samsung Electronics, HTC’s One M8 and the Xperia Z2 from Sony are only small upgrades compared to their predecessors.
“This market isn’t moving forward quite as quickly as it has in the past. While it is taking a breather, Microsoft and Nokia can up the game and try to close the gap,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.
Microsoft has recognized this chance to make up some lost ground.
“The pace of innovation we are delivering is, I’ll argue, accelerating, while some of our leading competitors appear to be slowing down. If you’re behind you have to go faster than the guy in front of you to catch up and that’s exactly what we are trying to do,” said Greg Sullivan, director of Windows Phone at Microsoft.
The company is making progress on both hardware and software. For example, the upcoming Lumia 930 has the same screen resolution, RAM and GPU as the Galaxy S5. Previous flagship models from Nokia haven’t compared as well to the competition.
One priority: forge closer ties with chip vendors
Moving forward, Microsoft has to make sure it gets access to upcoming processors especially from Qualcomm—including the Snapdragon 805, and then the 64-bit ARM-based Snapdragon 808 and 810—quicker than it has in the past, according to Mawston.
Some of what Microsoft’s competitors are trying to do to differentiate their products plays on Nokia’s strengths. When HTC, Samsung and Sony launched their new top-of-the-line smartphones they all bragged about camera upgrades, which is what Nokia is best at.
“We’ll continue to focus on that as a core area of differentiation for us,” Sullivan said.
The recent announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 is another sign that Microsoft is on the right track. With the upgrade, the OS finally is getting a drop-down menu called the Action Center, with quick access to notifications and settings for things like Wi-Fi, Flight Mode and Bluetooth. But the headline feature is Cortana, a voice-controlled digital assistant that’s powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
“Actually, Windows Phone, when someone gets it in their hands, looks different and moves away from that grid of icons. It’s a more fluid interface and more interactive in some ways with the live tiles. That’s what Microsoft needs to push hard now,” said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.
In addition to new features, Microsoft is also lowering the bar for developers who want to create apps for the OS, the lack of which has been a big stumbling block for Windows Phone. The app gap compared to iOS and Android has shrunk, but it’s still there, according to Wood.
The app issue
With Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update, developers build “universal” Windows apps once that run with little or no modification in PCs, tablets and smartphones. Developers can use the universal app project template in Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 RC to build these apps using the common Windows Runtime API. They can also modify existing Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps and make them “universal” ones.
“The universal apps announcement is inspired,” said Stuart Douglas, an independent front-end system developer in the U.K. who plans to take “full advantage” of this new capability.
The universal app concept will be expanded to include the Xbox as well. Games in particular are going to be interesting as developers start taking advantage of the options the concept affords them, according to Sullivan. He envisions titles that combine big screen game play on the Xbox with sensors, cameras and GPS on smartphones and tablets.
To make Windows Phone more attractive to game developers, Microsoft has to make better use of its Xbox consoles, according to Mawston.
Douglas, who has built about five Windows 8 business apps, is impressed with other Windows Phone 8.1 features, like the Word Flow keyboard and new Action Center. He has high expectations for the Nokia deal because he considers the quality of Nokia phones to be on par with those from Apple and Samsung.
“I hope that the acquisition will open a large number of different mobile/tablet devices to enrich the Windows 8 platform,” Douglas said via email.
Attacking the low end
Microsoft also has to make Windows Phone a better fit for low-end smartphones priced under $100 without a contract, which are becoming increasingly important as much of the future growth in the mobile market is expected in this segment. The Lumia 520 has already shown there is a lot of potential. If that device hadn’t been a hit, it’s doubtful that Windows Phone would still be around.
Two months ago at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200 and 400 processors, which open the door for cheaper devices. It also announced nine new Windows Phone partners, including Foxconn, Karbonn, Lava, Lenovo, Longcheer and ZTE, which are expected to make low-priced Microsoft phones a reality.
“When we announced these new partnerships, I think it’s fair to say that the ink wasn’t quite dry. That was the beginning and a little over a month later, April 2, [Windows Phone Program Management manager] Joe Belfiore held up a couple of prototype devices from a couple of those manufacturers running our software already,” Sullivan said.
Microsoft’s recent decision to license Windows Phone for free will also make it easier for partners to launch low-cost devices.
Exactly when the products will start shipping is up to the vendors, but they will show that Windows Phone offers better performance on low-cost hardware than Android, according to Sullivan.
“The idea that you don’t have to sacrifice the user experience just because you chose an affordable device is a big advantage for our platform, and one we plan to extend,” he said.
FLORENCE ION
The Nokia X: sink or swim?
With the acquisition, Microsoft also gets Nokia’s new X smartphones, which are based on the Android Open Source Project software and were also announced at Mobile World Congress. The X family’s existence is a sign of frustration on Nokia’s part and symbolizes Microsoft’s inability to lower the cost of Windows Phone.
Selling Android-based smartphones probably isn’t what Microsoft wants to do, but there are redeeming factors. The interface on the X, X+ and XL has been designed to look like Windows Phone, with tiles that can be resized. The thinking behind that is to make it easier for users to upgrade to a device that runs Microsoft’s OS. Also, the Google services available on Android devices have been replaced by Microsoft services such as Skype, Outlook.com and OneDrive for hosted storage.
“I suspect in the short term Microsoft will put up with the X family, because it looks like it’s going to be relatively popular. It will be a good way of getting the Microsoft user interface down to lower price points, and give Google a bit of a jab in the ribs,” Mawston said.
As long as there is a price gap between the low end of Windows Phone and X family, backing the latter makes sense, Wood agreed.
“Otherwise Microsoft is just leaving money on the table. But if it can get Windows Phone down to the same price point or if the X phones starts to look like it’s cannibalizing the low end of Windows Phone, decisions have to made quickly,” he said.
For now, Sullivan doesn’t want to comment on the future of X phones and feature phones. But for Windows Phone to succeed in the low end, Microsoft needs to lean on Nokia’s know-how.
“Nokia has huge installed base of several hundred million units across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe that Microsoft can take advantage of,” Mawston said.
“Nokia employees that today work on feature phones, particularly the Asha team, should be redeployed to drive down Windows Phone to lower price points,” Wood said.
Even though Microsoft seems to be making a lot of good decisions, success is far from assured, according to Wood.
“There is still a big, big gap between where Android and iOS is and where Windows Phone is. But credit where credit is due, they are slowly but surely making progress,” Wood said.
When Steve Ballmer announced the acquisition in the beginning of September last year, just after revealing he was stepping down as Microsoft CEO, he said:
“Today’s announcement is a bold step into the future. For Microsoft it’s a signature event—a signature event!—in our transformation. We think this is a win-win for employees; win-win for shareholders, and win-win for customers of both companies. Through our partnership we have already accomplished so much, and yet clearly the opportunity ahead is remarkable.”
If all that turns out to be true, Ballmer will have a nice story line for his autobiography. But if not, the chapter on Microsoft in the 21st century may not end well.
FLORENCE ION