Details on Microsoft’s Windows Phone Gameplan (LTE 2012)
October 20, 2011 No CommentsI believe that Windows Phones first year on the market can be compared to the original Xbox’s first run at the video game market. They both did not shoot to the number 1 spot after the first try but you can already feel some excitement and the feeling that something special is about to happen. Andy Lees, President of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division spoke to the Seattle times in a quick but insightful Q&A session about the future and current status of the Windows Phone. Not only did he confirm LTE on Windows Phone next year but he also added that manufacturers will be in control when it comes to TV ads (thank god).
Here are a few Q&A’s from the Seattle times article:
Q: Do you think the iPhone 4S (running on iOS 5) gives you an opening? Do you think they missed an opportunity there?
A: Yes I do. I think, from an end user’s experience on the software, there’s a lot of interesting reviews written comparing us to iOS 5 and the amount that we’ve got done in 11 months — so some people (are) making comparisons of pace.
Perhaps the biggest comparisons people are making is our people-centricity. The more capabilities we add into our phone, the more delightful it becomes to use because you seem to have more at your fingertips without this clutter and confusion of the other platforms.
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Q: Are they committed to going 4G?
A: All the phones in the U.S. are 4G. What’s interesting with this release, instead of all the phones coming out on the same day, there will be a season that will carry on into the next year that will include LTE phones as well.
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Q: So are there commercials that Microsoft is producing that they will all use?
A: What we want to do is allow each hardware manufacturer to celebrate what’s unique about their phone.
Q: It seems like one of the challenges is getting the salesperson in the store to push the phone.
A: Absolutely. I think that’s a number of things:
One — they get influenced by how good the product is. The reviewers have influence with that and also their own experience.
The second thing is the alignment with the operator. I think we’re already pretty aligned and over the life of this release, we’ll get even more aligned.
The other element is the OEMs. I think initially, while the OEMs were behind us and produced great products — were they ready to go through and really dive in (since it was only the first version of Windows Phone)? I think they’re seeing enough now that we’re really seeing that snowball start to roll.
Q: Is this going to be your breakout year, do you think?
A: A few things: The Xbox will be updated in November. The UI (user interface) is very similar (to Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows 8) with the tiles and panoramas. Windows 8 is going to help. In terms of just the phone, having the choice of hardware and the quality of the experience are going to be accelerants. Over the next 12, 18, 24 months, I can see a lot of stars lining up.
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