Windows phone 7 series is a lost cause
Could Windows Phone 7 Series save Microsoft’s mobile platform? Yes. In 2007. In 2010, it’s a non-starter.
That’s not easy for me to write, because with Windows Phone 7 Series Microsoft is following much of the advice I offered via blog posts over the last few years. That advice would have meant something when given, not months and years later when the competitive landscape has radically changed. Then there is the crucial analysis given last week that Microsoft failed to deliver on: Immediate release of new phone software and/or Microsoft phone.
Holiday delivery on new Windows Phone 7 Series handsets is simply too late. The geeks may be gaga this week about Windows Phone 7 Series, but that won’t much last beyond next month’s MIX10 conference.
Apple’s shipment of iPad and presumably March iPhone 4.0 OS announcement will change geek chatter away from Microsoft mobile. (For the last two years, Apple announced new iPhone OS versions in early spring.
)Microsoft’s problem is more about timing than strategy or technology (Hey, I like the user interface and presumed user experience, too). If Microsoft were running a marathon, its new runner would be entering the race to replace the one falling behind the leading group.
But the new runner would be starting when the others already were well ahead to their 26-mile goal. No matter how good the runner, the leaders would be too far ahead to easily catch.