Windows Phone was a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft.. It was launched in 2010 and was designed to compete with iOS and Android. However, the program never managed to gain significant market share and was discontinued in 2017. It received a few updates until 2019, when it was permanently removed.
Four years later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella decides to talk about the failure of the project, in an interview he offered to Business Insider. The businessman, in a way, expressed regret for having abandoned the initiative to have an operating system that would compete with iOS and Android.
“I think the decision that a lot of people are talking about, and one of the most difficult decisions I made when I became CEO, was our exit from what I will call mobile phone, as it was defined then,” Nadella says in reference to his assumption as executive director, in 2014.
“In retrospect, I think there might have been ways we could have made it work, perhaps reinventing the computing category between PCs, tablets and phones,” he added.
Microsoft returned to mobile telephony with a new device that runs on Android. And although it is slowly beginning to gain ground in this area, developing a new OS purely of its own making seems far off.
The failure of Windows Phone
There are several reasons why Windows Phone failed. One of the main reasons was the lack of support from developers. Android and iOS had a large app base, while Windows Phone had a much more limited offering. This made it less attractive to consumers.
Another reason for the failure of Windows Phone was its late launch. Android and iOS were already well established when Windows Phone hit the market. This made it difficult for Microsoft to gain ground.
Finally, Microsoft also made some strategic mistakes. For example, the company bought Nokia in 2014 in an attempt to boost its mobile business. However, the acquisition was costly and did not achieve the desired objective.
Despite its failure, Windows Phone left a legacy. The operating system introduced some innovative features such as Metro layout and tile-based user interface. These features were later adopted by other operating systems, such as Android and iOS.