

Why universal apps won't save Windows Phone - simonturvey
http://kneeland.me/2015/02/15/the-great-mobile-divergence-how-the-app-universe-went-beyond-universal-apps/

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sirkneeland
Hello, author here. I should clarify that I don't think Windows itself is
doomed--it isn't, not by a long shot.

I think Windows 10 will do well in mature markets where it's an established
leader (desktop) and nascent markets where leaders have yet to be defined
(hybrids, IoT, holograms).

Where Windows 10 will not do well is in mature markets where they're not an
established leader (phones).

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simonturvey
Except one of those mature markets is represented by incumbent installations
such as governmental departments and big companies. They're pretty reluctant
to hand over hosting responsibility of their email and productivity tools to
organizations whose business models are based on harvesting the enclosed data
for advertising. Given that these institutions buy in considerable bulk
there's the potential for the lure of a convenient, secure and harmonized
platform to result in a phone market share above that magic 10% figure at
which point it starts advertising itself and reaching sustainability/growth.

~~~
sirkneeland
For desktops, sure. But Apple has clearly done a bang-up job at stitching up
the institutional buyers with iPhone deals.

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simonturvey
The term "institutional buyer" covers a broad spectrum. It's not just the
deep-pocketed tech firms that buy smartphones. It's also your hospitals,
animal shelters, fast food franchises, etc. Lots of these buyers are going to
be looking for value other than app availability such as ease of integration
with existing tools, security, and the right price. I don't see my local
humane society heading out to the Apple store for a bunch of iPhone 6 Pluses.

I completely agree that app availability is not likely to save Windows Phone.
I do believe though that MSFT's ability to push a wide range of capable,
corporate-compatible handsets at reasonable price points give the platform as
much of a chance at success as it's ever going to get.

------
simonturvey
I like that MSFT appear to be attempting to reinvent responsive design for the
native world ;)

It will be interesting to see how, if at all, this dovetails with their
SmartGlass efforts as I can see some merit in a framework that makes it easier
to split views with a shared model and controller across multiples
screens/devices.

