A smartphone or tablet is only as good as the ecosystem that extends, supports and nurtures the device.
Apple is blessed not merely because a lot of fans stand in line to get the latest iPhone but also because there’s a huge ecosystem of developers and accessories vendors that flock to the iOS platform.
After iOS, the second choice of developers and accessories vendors is Google’s Android mobile platform.
Even you schmucks knew that, didn’t you? 😉
So where does Microsoft stand?
Out in the cold.
It seems the majority of potential app developers are showing the cold shoulder to Microsoft’s Windows Phone, if you go by the numbers in a recent survey by mobile apps platform Appcelerator.
Of the 804 companies that responded to Appcelerator’s survey, 60% belonged to the software and telecom, media and entertainment sectors, 10% to Financial, Law and Professional Services, 9% to Pharma, Healthcare & Life Sciences, 8% to Consumer Services and Retail, 7% to Engineering, Manufacturing and Infrastructure and 6% to Government, Education and Non-profit.
Quite a cross section of companies, right?
Here’s how these 804 companies stack up when it comes to interest in building apps for different mobile platforms:
The great tragedy for Microsoft is that a mere 26% are interested in building apps for the moribund Windows Phone.
If the above table is not a harbinger of calamity for the Windows Phone platform, I don’t know what else is! 🙁
The survey also notes that 80% of respondents are keen on developing apps for the iPhone and iPad.
No surprise given the Apple iOS platform’s popularity!
And 71% of respondents are interested in building apps for Android phones. So there’s still some hope for the Samsungs of the world that rely on the Android platform.
Again, no surprise here!
Unless Bill Gates jumps back into Microsoft and infuses some new energy into the company a la N.R.Narayana Murthy of Infosys, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Surface tablets are doomed and have no hope of success!
Microsoft’s Tragedy – Majority of Developers Showing Middle Finger to Windows Phone added by SearchIndia.com on
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I just hope that at least some of the 26% of developers develop some game-changing apps that save Microsoft. If it keeps going this way, Microsoft will land up worse than Dell, a former PC giant. My advice to Microsoft would be to stick to their strength. If you are going to make your Smartphone a big player, first reduce the price and develop some game-changing apps at least…. Next, you need to export your smartphones to third world countries where iPhone and Android phones are still developing their markets….. India is already saturated with Android, however there are still thousands of villages in India, who can’t differentiate an Apple Smartphone from a Micromax, Samsung, or XXXX brand…. Microsoft should try to tap such unexplored markets by selling their phones at affordable rates (Around 6-12K). While they may initially face some losses, they can at least survive…….
SearchIndia.com Responds:
While bizarre things do happen in the world (who’d have thought Ajith would be a hero), I’d be extremely surprised if Microsoft succeeds in the mobile arena.
Microsoft has no hope in India because the cheap Android phones from China will clobber it at the low end and Apple/Samsung will eat its lunch at the high end.
Of course, Microsoft’s success/failure will also depend on how well Apple, Google and Samsung continue to execute.
If I were the betting kind, I’d not put my money down on Microsoft!
But if the wise Rahul Gandhi wins the polls, he might pass an ordinance saying that all Indians must buy Windows Phone to cleanse Parliament, reduce corruption and improve general morality! 😉
SI said: “While bizarre things do happen in the world (who’d have thought Ajith would be a hero), I’d be extremely surprised if Microsoft succeeds in the mobile arena.
Microsoft has no hope in India because the cheap Android phones from China will clobber it at the low end and Apple/Samsung will eat its lunch at the high end.”
I agree. But Microsoft has no other go, but to aim at the village/market in India, where there is still a huge lack of awareness about Smartphones…. Remember that the majority of Indian population still resides in the rural regions….. So, if Microsoft can come up with a unique strategy and attractive pricing, they can still beat Samsung, Micromax, and Carbonn in these segments…. But in order to do that, they need to START NOW………………………
SI said” “If I were the betting kind, I’d not put my money down on Microsoft!
But if the wise Rahul Gandhi wins the polls, he might pass an ordinance saying that all Indians must buy Windows Phone to cleanse Parliament, reduce corruption and improve general morality!
”
Even I would not put my money on Microsoft, definitely not when that idiot Steve Ballmer is still CEO….
As for Rahul Gandhi, the less we speak of that gentleman the better it is for us.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We live in a weird world where failure brings rich rewards.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-calling-quits-article-1.1434945
SI Said: “We live in a weird world where failure brings rich rewards.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-calling-quits-article-1.1434945“.
True, I never seen instances where failure brings such rich rewards, apart from Rahul Gandhi, who was referred by his scumbag coterie to be the next youth icon, apparently for “just being the son of Sonia Gandhi and bearing a resemble to his father, Rajiv Gandhi”… And this guy is supposedly their PM candidate…
Rahul Gandhi and Steve Ballmer, two stories that I’ll never understand. One forced to the limelight just because of his family ties, and the other became CEO because of his close friendship with BILL GATES and yet they both are utter failures, but still hog the public limelight…..
Crazy world, crazy buggers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I wouldn’t describe Ballmer as an utter failure. The mobile arena was his Achilles heel.
As for Rahul, the Congress is lost without the unifying force of the Gandhi family. Without a Gandhi at the head, the Congress party will be reduced to a squabbling mess in a month.
SI Said: “I wouldn’t describe Ballmer as an utter failure. The mobile arena was his Achilles heel.” – Well, he took over from Bill Gates when the company was at its peak. Microsoft Products were everywhere, the mobile and gaming era was far away, smartphones weren’t invented yet etc….. If he had even been moderately successfully, Microsoft wouldn’t be losing billions of dollars today thanks to junk like Bing, Surface, etc.
The hallmark of a CEO, especially one who takes over the reins of a MNC giant should be atleast maintaining the market share, while adding new products and ventures to the kitty…. Apart from the success of Microsoft Xbox and the dependency on Microsoft Office worldwide, which continues till date as it would cost billions of dollars for companies to totally move from office to another product, Ballmer has zilch success.
To me that is a tremendous failure.
As for the Congress Party without a Gandhi at its helm, did you forget that the best years of the Congress were always when a non-Gandhi/Nehru was at its helm…. Does anyone forget Narasimha Rao;s period, where Congress took the country from a loan-ridden one to an improving democracy???
To me, the name of Gandhi, even the Mahatma, is overrated….. This especially considering how much laurels that we have heaped upon them already… Hell, nobody even thinks about other great leaders such as Subash Chandra Bose, Bala Gangadhara Tilak, Gokhale, and Lal Bahadur Shastri (Who, ironically, shares the same birthday as Gandhi)?
It’s a crying shame that a name that was once remembered for a glorious freedom movement is now linked to all the nefarious idiots in the world…..
Btw, check this out….
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/hardware/Microsoft-Surface-2-beats-Apple-iPad-to-win-Delta-order/articleshow/23340941.cms?google_editors_picks=true&google_editors_picks=true
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I am not sure how much Delta is paying MSFT.
MSFT desperately needs some hype…so I’d not be surprised if there was heavy discounting.