Windows phones, even today, are considered ahead of their time due to their implementation of features such as live tiles, accented apps, and seamless integration with all social media platforms. Now, in a recent interview with Business Insider, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella echoed the statements of the general public by emphasizing that discontinuing Windows phones was a mistake.
According to Nadella, who assumed the CEO role in 2014 and was inherently responsible for the phone division, there might have been better strategies to address the Windows phone situation, considering it resulted in a staggering $7.6 billion write-off associated with the acquisition of Nokia’s phone business.
“The decision I think a lot of people talk about – and one of the most difficult decisions I made when I became CEO – was our exit of what I’ll call the mobile phone as defined then. In retrospect, I think there could have been ways we could have made it work by perhaps reinventing the category of computing between PCs, tablets, and phones,” said Nadella.
Why did Windows phones fail?
When the first Windows phone hit the market in 2010, it introduced much-needed competition to a market dominated by Symbian and iOS. However, shortly after its launch, it became an instant hit among users who had never seen such fluidity and animations in the operating system. The on-screen keyboard, superior notification management, and the lock screen made Windows phones direct rivals to iPhones.
However, in 2013, a game-changing development occurred that shifted the entire landscape in favour of Windows phones — cameras. This is because up until that point, smartphone cameras were largely secondary features, aimed at capturing the most basic photos. However, with the launch of the Nokia Lumia 1020, everything changed. The phone featured a massive 41-megapixel sensor that was ahead of its time, providing users with the capability to capture all their precious moments.
While the rise of Windows phones was largely due to its software, its downfall was also due to the same factor. This was because every time Microsoft released a new Windows phone, people wondered if it would have the support of essential apps like Instagram.
However, perhaps the most significant issue that led to the decline of Windows phones was the absence of Google apps, such as YouTube. Google seemed reluctant to allow the platform to emerge as a legitimate contender to Android, and this led them to do everything in their power to restrict Microsoft’s access to Google apps, ultimately causing manufacturers to abandon their projects involving Windows phones.
Other CEOs echo the same statement
Although the demise of Windows as a mobile platform occurred during Nadella’s tenure, he is not the only one who has acknowledged the mistakes made. This is because Microsoft’s co-founder and former CEO, Bill Gates, once admitted that failing to compete with Android was his “greatest mistake ever.” Additionally, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also acknowledged his mistake, saying, “I regret that there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows [Vista] that we couldn’t redirect our talent to the new device called the phone. That is the thing I regret the most.”