Bonum Certa Men Certa

Windows Phone 7 is Already Failing, Linux to Blame

Destroyed



Summary: Assemblage of new evidence showing that Vista Phone 7 [sic] will fail just like Vista and "KIN", despite a massive marketing blitz

MICROSOFT'S mobile business is broken beyond the point of being repairable. Especially after the "KIN" debacle, companies are afraid to experiment with Microsoft's offerings. All Microsoft can rely on at this stage is marketing and more marketing. The press is filled with articles that cover just about nothing, mentioning Vista Phone 7 [sic] here and there for no apparent reason. That's just PR in action (strings are pulled behind the scenes and money changes hands). The agency in charge makes a lot of noise for senseless PR, as we noted before. The failure of the press to report news without money entering this equation is an important subject for another day.



Samsung is historically a large distributor of Windows phones, but right now Samsung focuses on Ballnux (Linux for which it pays Microsoft, for rather mysterious reasons as no patent infringement was ever proven). Following trouble complying with the GPL Samsung releases some more source code (for Android). CNN asks, "Will Samsung dump Windows Phone 7 for Android?"

Samsung isn't just any Microsoft (MSFT) launch partner. It is also the manufacturer of the prototype Windows 7 phones going out to developers and journalists for pre launch. They've said that this device won't be among the final Windows 7 products, however.

But is Samsung even planning to be in the Windows 7 universe for the long haul? Engadget spoke with Samsung's CSO Omar Khan who (see 12:45) wouldn't commit to having a Windows Phone 7 Series at launch. He really had next to nothing to say about Windows phones in general. Khan had plenty to talk about in the Android world, however and spent most of the interview talking about upcoming Android products.


There are many other articles like this one, e.g. "Samsung Favoring Android Over Windows Phone 7 And Bada" or "Samsung Picks Android, Windows Phone 7 Takes Hit". There's also "Samsung favors Android, marginalizes Windows Phone 7" and "Samsung Prioritizing Android, Downplaying Windows Phone 7".

“...a Microsoft brand phone has never had a bright future.”
      --FurnaceBoy
It would be wonderful news if it were not for the fact that Microsoft has a Linux patent deal with Samsung, which means that Microsoft benefits financially from all of this.

There is another company, called N-trig, which is turning away from Microsoft right now, in favour of Android of course. Microsoft Nick writes: "N-trig, an Israeli touch-screen company Microsoft invested in last year, is working with HTC on a tablet that will run the Google Android operating system, according to a report by the newspaper Haaretz."

Yes, tablets and phones are increasingly coupled, not just at Apple (iOS). There is a meeting half-way between desktops and phones and as expected when sub-notebooks made their debut, Microsoft was bound to get burned by it, especially when the scale gets tilted in ARM's favour on the hardware side. Pogson writes:

Does saving $20 per CPU look good while paying money for an OS like “7″ instead of GNU/Linux? Likely they are not paying much for “7″ as M$ tries to exclude GNU/Linux but why not ARM? That would be much less costly than $65. Apple went that way because it made sense and they were not tied to M$.

Clearly, M$ is distorting the market for netbooks. OEMs are getting out of the netbook market rather than using GNU/Linux on ARM which has major advantages in cost/performance. Consumers are being denied the lowest-cost option by the big OEMs.


Microsoft cannot really compete here. As we showed last night, Microsoft's tablet executive Bill Mitchell (a Vice President) has also just left the company. "[I]ts rats [are] deserting a sinking ship," wrote Chips B. Malroy a couple of days ago. All Microsoft can do at this stage is brainwash the public and allocated to the latest brainwash campaign is as much money as was allocated to Vista 7 marketing (if not much more). So get ready for a load of lies to be published in months to come. It will come in huge quantities regardless of the merits or relevance of Microsoft's 'new' platform.

"[P]oor things," said FurnaceBoy, "and a Microsoft brand phone has never had a bright future."

"WP7 will be stillborn," Chips B. Malroy concluded as he continued sharing links.

Here is another good article ("All not well for Ballmer's mobile dreams"):

Microsoft's launch plans for Windows Mobile 7 are fast running into the ground as partners are getting more iffy about the operating system.

HP has all but indicated that it will not be making an appearance when Windows Mobile 7 is launched. This is despite the fact that Microsoft has a contract with HP for $20 million to cover the cost of developing the operating system.


In IRC Chips B. Malroy quoted: "Including ads and other promotions by wireless operators and handset makers, as well as the marketing activities of other partners around the world, the total expenditures for launching Windows Phone 7 could run into the "billions," Goldberg told InternetNews.com, relaying information that he said he heard recently from company executives."

"[I]t's costly convincing people to buy stuff they don't want," FurnaceBoy explained. Here is the headline which says: "Microsoft to Spend 'Billions' on Windows Phone 7?"

"Ballmer isn't going to go out without a fight," Chips B. Malroy wrote, "possible billions, he is crazy.

"Ballmer did say he would bury Google? or was it kill Google? Well it looks like Google will get the better of him."

One Apple site chooses the more conservative figures: "Microsoft to spend over $500m to catch up to iPhone, Android"

Mary Jo Foley says it's maybe more than a billion (depending on how it's measured). The Guardian asks, "Microsoft to spend billions on Windows Phone 7: what chance of payback?" Either way, regardless of the exact numbers, "Microsoft faces heavy costs to make WinPhone 7 competitive with iPhone," as one article put it (it left out other competitors like Linux from the headline).

Henry Blodget publishes [1, 2] the item titled "Let's Be Honest: Microsoft's Mobile Business Is a Fantasy" (some numbers validated here).

“Vista Phone 7 has everything it takes to never take off.”Microsoft is likely to see it debt grow because of marketing expenditures at the very least. Some circles of the press are already bombarded with puff pieces (news about nothing). Compare that to just two Zune clusters of headlines in two whole weeks of news (Mary Jo Microsoft el al. spreading rumours to create hype [1, 2, 3]) and recall what little "KIN" marketing managed to achieve, apart from alienating Windows partners, who are made irate when Microsoft overrides their hardware business (selling hardware along with Windows, maybe Xbox this time).

Vista Phone 7 has everything it takes to never take off. It's a case of too little, too late. Applications and games are not compatible with this platform, which starts almost from zero and has no compelling features, let alone support from principal partners like Samsung.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
 
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025