Photo: handy2day / Flickr

Charlie Kindel, a former Windows Phone GM, wrote a post explaining the reasons he believed were behind Windows Phone 7’s continued struggles in sales even though – according to him – it was a superior platform to Google’s mobile OS. He says it all comes down to control – and that is what has limited WP7’s sales potential to date.

Kindel’s reasoning

Kindel explains that there are four primary sides of the mobile market – the users, the OS providers, the device manufacturers and the mobile carriers. He explains that they all own and control different parts of the market, while in conflict in other parts. He explains that where Google gives the device manufacturer and the carrier control – leading to more Android devices being made and carrier retail sales people punting Android phones – Microsoft restricts this control, meaning manufacturers and carriers support it less. In turn users do not have the devices marketed to them by the carriers, hence Microsoft’s week sales position.

What this means

Charlie Kindel explains that this means that Windows Phone 7 is able to provide a superior end user experience, though it comes with a price. ‘This is why, despite being a superior PRODUCT to Android, Windows Phone has not sold as well.  Spending marketing dollars on advertising Android devices is and easy decision for the carriers. Pushing RSPs to push Android is easy,’ he writes.

In the long run, he believes this model – putting users first – could trump over Google’s ‘do what you will approach’, which he says has resulted in the platform becoming extremely fragmented.

A comeback unlikely?

Tech writer turned venture capitalist MG Siegler says that, even if WP7 is marginally better than Android or iOS, it’s not enough, especially given how late to market it is. ‘Two to three years in the hole, the only way Windows Phone can win the market now is to make a product that is leaps and bounds better than what’s out there. They need something that’s an iPhone-in-2007 type product. The product they have, while good, isn’t that,’ Siegler writes.

The Windows Phone 7 sales problem has been on my mind for some time now. The mobile OS platform is, in my view, at least on par with Google’s Android, if not superior. What’s for certain is Android OS isn’t manifold better warranting the major sales gap between the two platforms. So what then is Microsoft to do to mitigate their current sales problem?

Kindel does a good job outlining how, in simple terms, the mobile devices market is structured. His argument for Windows Phone 7 sales issues is well articulated, but the proactive steps the WP7 team need to take to kick start sales outside of throwing money at the problem and waiting is not explained at all.

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The long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Nexus is finally available for purchase in some regions, and early reviews of the Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone have begun rolling in. Suffice it to say, the general sentiment across major tech publications is positive, with some calling the device their favourite Google Android handset released yet. Below are extracts from some reviews.

‘Favourite Android device’ in the world

BGR’s Jonathan S. Geller writes: ‘This is almost comical at this point, but the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is my favorite Android device in the world. Easily replacing the HTC Rezound, the Motorola DROID RAZR, and Samsung Galaxy S II.’ He explains that the latest Google mobile OS could be more intuitive, but it certainly is powerful, and that ‘Android 4.0 is coupled with the best smartphone Samsung has ever produced and easily leapfrogs any other competitor’s device.’

Best Android phone ever made

Joshua Topolsky over at The Verge is equally smitten with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. He writes: ‘The Galaxy Nexus is the best Android phone ever made. It’s one of the best smartphones ever made, and with a couple of minor tweaks (particularly to the camera), it could be the best smartphone ever produced.’ He mentions its size – with a colossal 4.65-inch display – could be off-putting to some. Importantly, he says that Android Ice Cream Sandwich ‘is a fantastic OS.’

Good, but not great

The folks over at TechRadar are not as smitten as BGR or The Verge. They write: ‘We had real high hopes for the Galaxy Nexus and genuinely expected it to take the place of best smartphone on the market today. But it hasn’t.’

The review continues: ‘If you were to take away Ice Cream Sandwich, hardware-wise, you’d not have much to write home about compared to what else is out there.’

All in all, while impressed with the device, they don’t think the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as a piece of hardware is the home run it could have potentially been.

General trends

Having read through several Samsung Galaxy Nexus reviews, the general trend seems positive. There’s almost universal approval for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and there’s belief that Samsung has, against all odds, topped what it achieved with the Samsung Galaxy S2. Once we’ve spent solid time with it, we’ll share our thoughts on the handset.

Photo: neonbubble / Flickr

The Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets that are under pressure to save both Nokia’s handset business and Microsoft’s mobile OS platform have gotten off to a slow start, if a recent report by an analyst is anything to go by. Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette has slashed his estimations of how many of the handsets could sell by 75 per cent.

A quarter of what was initially expected

In a note to clients, Faucette writes that [via Forbes]: ‘We believe that shipments of Nokia’s new Windows Phone 7 products have been lower than we had previously anticipated.’ He continued, saying: ‘We had expected that the company could ship as many as 2 million units into the six targeted markets for the holidays; however, we now believe that those shipments are likely to be less than 1 million for the quarter.’

Faucette believes that Nokia’s handsets could sell as few as 500,000 units, a mere 25 per cent of the total initially predicted.

Some perspective

On one level, the poor performance predicted by Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette could be seen as cause for concern for Nokia, and on another level, it could be nothing. Remember, the two million units figure was his estimate, and not Nokia’s. What’s more the Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets are new to market and represent a comeback for the Finnish mobile phones giant – and something of an ‘arrival’ for Microsoft’s WP7 mobile OS – and so slow sales in the early going aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

Nevertheless, you can bet that both Microsoft and Nokia are keeping a nervous eye on Nokia Windows Phone 7 sales. Both companies need this to come off, and the longer it takes to gain momentum, the more anxious both parties will be, justified or unjustified.

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After getting off to a solid start, sales of RIM’s smartphones that run on BlackBerry OS 7 are beginning to slow. This is according to a report issued by Canaccord Genuinity, citing industry checks.

Canaccord Genuinity analyst T. Michael Walkley says that sales of the Canadian smartphone giant’s recently released mobile OS platform have been poorer than Research In Motion had hoped. The BlackBerry OS 7 phones were meant as a stop-gap between RIM’s dated OS 6 mobile OS platform and the company’s next-generation BlackBerry BBX devices.

Pressure from all directions

Instead OS 7 has gotten off to a sputtering start as increased competition from Apple with their iPhone, and Android, led by the Galaxy Nexus, has resulted in RIM’s market share nose-diving, particularly in North America. ‘With the launch of the iPhone 4S, increasingly price-competitive Android smartphones, improving Windows smartphones, and the launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, we anticipate increasing competition across all tiers of RIM’s products in [calendar year] 2012,’ said Walkley.

He added that ‘while our September/October checks indicated solid sales of new BlackBerry OS 7 models, especially the Bold 9000 series as an upgrade enterprise sale, our recent checks indicate slowing sales trends post the launch of the iPhone 4S and price reductions of the iPhone 4 and 3GS.’

BBX a short-term curse

While the BlackBerry BBX platform is positioned as RIM’s potential saviour, the platform will also lead to a further slowdown in sales of Research In Motion’s current products. Canaccord Genuinity analyst T. Michael Walkley expects the next generation RIM OS to arrive in the middle of 2012, which he predicts will lead to a sales slowdown across the board each quarter up until then. Not ideal for Research In Motion, but the slowdown could have been even more dramatic if the company didn’t have something in the pipeline.

Photo: mbiebusch / Flickr

Windows Phone 7 has stuttered, and some believe that iOS and, in particular, Android are too far off in the distance for Microsoft’s mobile OS platform to catch up. Some disagree, and think that the struggling mobile OS platform may still have a chance yet to make a dent in the market.

What Microsoft has to do to win

Writing for PC World, Tony Bradley suggests that the reliance on Microsoft’s external services as is the case for other mobile OS platforms also represents Windows Phone 7’s opportunity to make a comeback.

He writes: ‘The goal of Windows Phone 7 isn’t to be the only mobile OS capable of connecting to and working with the vast Microsoft ecosystem. The goal of Windows Phone 7 is to do so better – to integrate more seamlessly and deliver a superior experience that gives customers incentive to want to use Windows Phone 7.’ He argues that Microsoft has achieved this, and with a mobile OS that does not parrot iOS.

Microsoft’s challenges

However, with that said, why then is Microsoft still struggling to close the gap? Bradley argues that ‘The Achilles heel of Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s dedication to a Microsoft-centric world.’ He says Microsoft needs to keep its platform open, ‘both allowing for other mobile platforms to seamlessly connect with the Microsoft infrastructure, and enabling Windows Phone 7 to easily connect and work with other systems.’

Our thoughts

Windows Phone 7 is in a precarious position because, truth be told, it’s a very good – and surprisingly unique – mobile OS platform. I tend to agree with this. Some even argue that it is notably superior to Google Android. The problem is in business, sales are what counts – and not the perception of just a few. If Microsoft is to close the gap, and if Microsoft is to make Windows Phone 7 anywhere near the success they need it to be, they’re probably going to need the response to the Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets to be really good, work hard with carriers to get them to put the devices front and centre, and foster a community of serious evangelists.

They’re trying, but whether they’re succeeding remains to be seen.

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In an interview with the New York Times, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop outlined his company’s plan to make a comeback in the mobile devices market where it has fallen behind rivals like Apple and handset manufacturers making devices for the Android platform. He says the key to recovery is to capitalise on users making the transition from feature phones to smartphones, leveraging its relationship with Microsoft, and to leverage unique Nokia software like its location and mapping technology.

Differentiation is key

Stephen Elop told Steve Lohr of the New York Times that ‘There is tremendous opportunity for differentiation’. The first big difference is the mobile OS Nokia’s next generation of handsets will run on, and that’s Windows Phone 7. Though the operating system has been critically praised – we really like it – it’s struggled to get traction. This effectively means few customers have come across it, as opposed to Android and iOS. The opportunity for Nokia is to drive the mobile OS platform into more customers’ hands, surprising them with how different the OS is from what Apple and Google offer.

Smartphones aren’t phones

The next part of the Nokia comeback plan is to build a strong ecosystem around the platform. Where the company will look to differentiate itself from some of its competitors is in investing in the application ecosystem Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets run on themselves. Elop previously hinted at something similar with regards to his company’s comeback plans in the US specifically.

Showing keen insight, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop looks at mobile handsets as more than just phones, but rather platforms primarily for other uses, including phones. He says: ‘These devices are essentially a platform of sensors,’ adding that ‘The Navteq location data is one of the best assets we have. Fully integrating that technology into our smartphones is a major area of investment for us and a real area of differentiation.’ Whether it will be enough to close the gap, given the incredible momentum iOS and Android have remains to be seen. At least, in Elop’s case, a comeback plan is well articulated. Whether it succeeds is another matter altogether.

Photo: Microsoft Sweden / Flickr

Gavin Kim, who was Samsung’s VP of consumer and enterprise services, has left the company to become general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Phone team. The move comes at a time when fortunes in the smartphone industry are very different for the two companies. Samsung is winning and Microsoft is not (well, not directly, at least), and Kim’s experience in helping Samsung become a smartphone juggernaut in a short 18 months could be of great use to Microsoft.

Why he’s moving

BGR broke the story of Kim’s departure, interviewing him to find out the motivation behind his leaving. He said: ‘In my experience, there is an already fervent base of Windows Phone supporters out there and they all get it. They are passionate, and already very vocal about it … so, it is really my new job to make sure we reflect that message clearly in our product and marketing collaborations with all of our partners to create more Windows Phone believers.’

He explained that his role includes helping set the Windows Phone 7 product roadmap, as well as developing relationships with ‘consumers, carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and partners.’

Product management incredibly important

For Microsoft, the appointment of Samsung VP Gavin Kim as general Manager of the Windows Phone team is a small step in a series of moves the company needs to make if it is to win in the smartphone market.

Microsoft’s sales problems are currently two-parted – their presence and clout with mobile carriers is really small, and consumer demand for the extremely polished mobile OS platform is low, too. The problem for the company is one feeds the other: if the carriers have Windows Phone 7.5 handsets on display, customers will be more interested. If customers start demanding Windows Phone 7.5 handsets, the carriers will, well, carry them. It’s starting that feedback loop that will be Gavin Kim’s challenge.

Photo: luca.sartoni / Flickr

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop revealed that his company has big plans to make a renewed go of the US mobile phones market in 2012. He revealed that not only did his company plan to launch with multiple carriers, they’re also open to making a Nokia Windows 8 tablet if the opportunity makes sense.

We’re coming, America

‘Our intention is to come back in the United States and grow significant share in this market,’ Elop told Bloomberg during an interview on Wednesday.

‘Our plans are to be very competitive and to go head-on with the appropriate devices at the appropriate price points,’ he added, saying: ‘We know we need to get volume moving and we need from that to develop economies of scale. And then as we do more and more differentiation, we expand gross margin.’

North America has in recent years emerged as the most important market in the smartphone industry. Not only do US smartphone users serve as global tastemakers, but the current leaders of the smartphone industry – Apple and Google – are both US companies, so much of the industry innovation stems from those two countries. What’s more the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS, which Nokia handsets run on, is made by Microsoft. They too are an American company.

Apps necessary, tablets possible

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop also touched on the importance of having the absolute best applications available for their platform – and by that, whether he means Windows Phone 7 or Nokia WP7 handsets specifically, is unclear. It’s fast emerged that apps are one of the big difference makers in the contemporary smartphone industry, and Nokia want to make sure they cover their bases on that front. While the company will continue to make Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets, the company is also open to making Nokia Windows 8 tablets, if it makes business sense.

One step at a time, Mr Elop. One step at a time.

Photo: Vicchi / Flickr

While there were rumours earlier in the year that a dual-core ST-Ericsson processor would power some Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets, it has emerged that all Nokia WP7 handsets going forward will be powered by the company’s processor. This is both a major victory for ST-Ericsson, and a significant blow for NovaThor all at once.

The deal

The Nokia ST-Ericsson deal was announced in a press release, wherein ST-Ericsson CEO Gilles Delfassy said [via Engadget]: ‘We are pleased to have been selected by Nokia as a key partner for Windows smartphones, in line with our goal to be present in all segments and major operating systems.’ He added that: ‘Our NovaThor platforms continue to gain traction as they enable customers to bring great smartphones to the market.’

A slight power shift

It’s well established that the next major battle ground in computing is mobile devices. This is not only so at the smartphone or tablet PC level, but with the components that power these devices, too. The likes of Qualcomm and ARM have had a vice grip on the industry for some time now. For a company as significant as Nokia to throw their support behind ST-Ericsson and their NovaThor product is very significant.

The comeback

Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets – and by extension the NovaThor processor – will be under intense scrutiny in the coming months. The Finnish mobile phones giant has fallen behind in the smartphone battle in recent years, and the launch of the Nokia WP7 handsets is supposed to serve as the beginnings of a comeback. Media, analysts, Nokia, Microsoft and competitors alike will be keeping a keen eye on the progress of the platform, giving the ST NovaThor processor a chance to shine if it is really up to the task.

Photo: Nokia

At Nokia World 11, the Finnish mobile device giant unveiled its first Windows Phone 7 handsets. The company unveiled a pair of devices, named the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710.

Lumia 800 – the N9 with Windows OS

The Nokia Lumia 800 – formerly codenamed SeaRay – retains the form factor of the stillborn yet extremely well-received Nokia N9, only this time replacing the MeeGo mobile OS with WP7. This, the top of the range Nokia Windows Phone 7 handset, ticks every single box one would want from a high end smartphone. It has an 8-megapixel camera that is based on Carl Zeiss optics, it’s powered by a 1.4GHz processor and it has a nicely sized 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display. It has native storage of 16GB as well as 25GB of SkyDrive cloud storage that will be used for music and pictures – not too dissimilar from Apple’s iCloud solution.

Other native features are Nokia Drive, the company’s heralded turn-by-turn software, as well as Nokia Music. It’s not cheap, though, currently available on pre-order for €420 unsubsidised, with a November release date earmarked for the United Kingdom.

The Nokia Lumia 710

The company unveiled a second Nokia Windows Phone 7 handset at Nokia World 11, called the Lumia 710. It’s less powerful than the 800 – as Nokia’s new naming strategy implies. The handset, previously codenamed the ‘Sabre’, also has a 1.4GHz processor and a 3.7-inch ClearBlack Display. It has less onboard storage, topping out at 8GB, and it has a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p HD video.

The Lumia 710 will arrive before the end of the year with a retail price of €270 unsubsidised.

Is it enough?

Nokia’s ability to build amazing hardware has never been questioned. And with the rock solid Windows Phone 7 mobile OS powering it, the company could have a pair of handsets that perfectly marry great hardware with a great mobile OS platform. This should spell victory, with should being the operative word, of course. Neither Microsoft nor Nokia are winning in the smartphone category at present (unless you count the Big M’s impressive patent licensing campaign as victory). Whether the two companies together will do the trick remains to be seen.

I, for one, have so far been hugely impressed by the Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets coming out of Nokia World 11.