Bill Gates admits Windows Phone is a Mistake

From the mouth of the babes! So, folks you heard it from the biggest Microsoft authority Bill Gates himself - the Windows Phone strategy is a mistake! I have been saying that in this blog for a while now especially in regards to Nokia whose fortunes tumbled since it bedded Microsoft in 2011. 

"There's a lot of things like cellphones where wedidn't get out in the lead early. We didn't miss cellphones, but the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership."

It is not very often that the heads of giant corporations speak the truth, nor even hint at it, so we have to take Gates' statement for more than just its face value. Admitting that Microsoft failed with its ill-recieved mobile operating system reverberated like an A bomb through the tech community drawing glee from its competitors and scores of denial from its supporters and astroturfers.

The question of course remains: will Gates demand Ballmer's removal as Microsoft's CEO?

Why did Bill Gates really leave Microsoft?

WINDOWS PHONE - from a sexy new star to a dud

I don't think that Gates was referring only to the dismal sales figures of WP 7 or now WP 8. According to the latest IDC figures, Windows Phone, be it 7 or 8, has managed to garner only 2.5% marketshare since its introduction in late 2010. In the last two years the sheer size of the smartphone market has more than doubled lead by Google's Android and Apple's iOS leaving Windows Phone in the dust. Viewed from his standpoint, at the time when he left Microsoft, Windows Mobile held 12% of the marketshare. This was clumsy, pre-touch era operating system which was more than cumbersome, unreliable, and buggy. Even so, it had a respectable market share. A little over two years ago MS announced a brand new, touch friendly, polished and sexy OS, a real competitor to Android and iPhone but to the dismal consumer approval. Besides the hype, first iteration of Windows Phone has proven to be not much more than a glorified feature phone. So many features found on smartphones, and even some dumbphones were missing in WP7.

Here are 101 reasons not to buy Windows Phone 7.5

Unfortunately, most of the issues mentioned in the above list have not been addressed in Windows Phone 8. Not only that, but the first adapters to WP were completely ditched by Microsoft; no upgrade path to 8 was made available. The platform was abandoned in two years! But here is a tricky part; Windows Phone 8 is not much different from 7.5, the major difference is that you can now resize the live tiles, it is basically the same OS but running on a different kernel. The kernel itself was the main reason Microsoft sites as the obstacle for current WP owners to upgrade to the newer version. With WP 7.5 went the syncing software Zune. While not on par with venerable iTunes, Zune was a descent software to sync our music, photos, and videos. Not so anymore. The internet is full of angry customers who found it impossible to sync their music libraries with MS Media Player. Apparently, the music they own and which plays nicely on their PC's does not want sync with the phone due to the licensing problem. Not to mention that a promised compatibility with Windows 8 is not really present in the real world. 

The whole WP experience is nothing more than smoke and mirrors by Microsoft which apparently has run of innovative ideas, execution strategies, quality control, and is suffering from visionless leadership. 

I agree with Gates on this one, Microsoft's mobile strategy is a mistake. 

So is keeping Ballmer in CEO's chair.

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