windows phone

The Seattle PI has done some sleuthing in Microsoft’s annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and found out that by subtracting a few figures, you get a rough $600 million dollars in revenue for fiscal year 2011 for Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.

The math comes from taking the $8.103 billion in Xbox sales away from the $8.716 billion from the whole Entertainment and Devices Division, resulting in $613 million in Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Zune, Mediaroom, Surface and hardware sales. That means of course that actual revenue is lower than $600 million for just Windows Mobile/Phone.

Nick Eaton of the Seattle PI calls this "abysmal" and depending on how you look at it, perhaps. Compared to Xbox, sure. Compared to Android? Not so much. After all, Google makes $0 from Android sales, though they do take in some money through the limited advertising on the phone. In that sense, making money off of the OS is not Google's goal, but market saturation is. The same is the same for Microsoft at this point. While they do charge for licenses, it's not exactly an area of revenue for them, nor are they banking on it (pun alert). However, neither was Xbox which took 5 years to turn a profit (and after losing billions).

From this we can take away what we already know: Windows Phone sales are not "hot" and this does not change things, making it perhaps a moot point. Microsoft's game plan is Mango, Nokia and Skype for the future. Their make or break moment will be first half of 2012 when all of their systems (PC, Xbox and Windows Phone) really start to converge into a cohesive ecosystem. 2010-11 was more of them warming up and laying the groundwork, which is quite impressive. Throw in the fact that Windows Phone scores higher than Android in user satisfaction, there's no real reason Windows Phone can't explode in market share during 2012. So lets revisit this next summer, shall we?

Source: Seattle PI

Going back to February, we knew of Microsoft's intent on bringing Windows Phone 7 over to Japan--a market that we still can't believe doesn't have the OS nearly nine months after launch. At the time, all we knew was "by year's end" for a release date and that's still seems to be accurate.

Evidently, Yasuyuki Higuchi, the corporate president of Microsoft Japan, had a little business briefing where he detailed a little more information about the upcoming Japanese-version of Windows Phone and what to expect.  As reported by NanaPho, Higuchi stated (roughly, translated):

"Mango is in the final stage, carriers and manufacturers, together with content providers, and are also developing services-enabled applications," 

Those services and applications being developed for the Japanese market include games, entertainment, food and restaurant industry, navigation, shopping, travel and SNS (social networking system). This is sort of a big deal obviously due to the need to create native apps with the Kana/Kanji writing system for the phone and Japan is a significant market for Microsoft to reach. As a side note, Yasuyuki Higuchi looks to be using a Dell Venue Pro for his personal device (see above pic).

Currently it is not known which manufacturer would be bringing Windows Phone to Japan, though seeing as Fujitsu was recently named as a new partner, we can safely guess that they will be involved with the first launch. 

Source: Keitai Watch,  PC Watch (Image); via NanaPho

Samsung, HTC, and LG all have apps that are dedicated to their particular Windows Phones. Manufacturers offer these apps as a selling point, hoping that such apps will attract consumers to thier Windows Phone.  There are some really nice apps from each of these manufacturers but they are confined to that particular device.  I can't load Samsung's Photogram on to my HTC HD7s or HTC apps to a Samsung.

In a recent interview, Nokia's Senior Vice President of Developer and Marketplace, Marco Argenti, said this won't be the case with Nokia Windows Phones. Quoting,

"Every Nokia App will be available on every phone."

He would later clarify his comments by saying that while the Nokia apps will work on any phone, there will be exclusive to Nokia Windows Phones for a set time. Argenti didn't get into specifics about what Nokia apps will be available but did comment that they are working hard to enhance areas such as mapping, commerce and discovery.

We'll have to wait and see what apps Nokia has up their sleeve but maybe having access to Nokia apps from other Windows Phones will be a catalyst.  Maybe other manufacturers will follow suit and we'll see HTC, Samsung and LG apps popping up on the Marketplace.

Source: Pocket-Lint Thanks goes out to stuart for the tip!

Although Microsoft stores (physical) are few and far between, you can still order online from Microsoft directly. And in the latter case, they seem to be taking a lead from some 3rd party retailers by offering select Windows Phones from U.S. carriers (sans AT&T) for the low, low-cost of $0.01.

Heck, they even throw in free 'next business day shipping' and free return shipping if you're not happy with the phone. Mind you, this deal also counts for new lines, upgrades/renewal or add-a-line, which is something that some 3rd parties don't offer (often, they only offer the deal for "new customers").

The three U.S. devices that are available for a penny are the Sprint HTC Arrive, Verizon HTC Trophy and T-Mobile HD7. Sounds good to us, so if you were looking to upgrade, this seems to be a solid deal.

Source: Microsoft Store; Thanks, AK, for the heads up

Yesterday, Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop sat down with Walt Mossberg at the D9 Conference to discuss everything from the fate of Symbian to the company's future with Windows Phone. While a good bit of the interview was a re-hash of what we already know and Elop voicing his support for Windows Phone, a few interesting tidbits did come out of the interview. Including a vague exchange on where Nokia's initial Windows Phone launch will take place

Elop commented on the key role developers are playing with the success of Windows Phones, reiterated the partnership goals with Microsoft, and again, refuted the rumors Microsoft was negotiating to buy Nokia. Elop also attributed Nokia's lack of presence in the U.S., in part, was due to the popularity of the flip phone. A form factor Nokia didn't see as important. But what might be the most interesting portion of the interview came when Elop was questioned on Nokia's Windows Phone launch.

Elop commented that Nokia is still scheduled to hit the market during the 4th Quarter, in time for the holidays. The interesting thing about this segment of the interview is that Elop wouldn't commit as to which markets will be involved.

When asked if this would be a Global launch, a U.S. launch or both, Elop replied, "A number of variables will control that."

When asked if the U.S. would be a part of the launch, Elop replied, "We are still working on what countries, in what order and variance will be involved."

When pressed further on this issue, Elop simply stated he wouldn't comment on any details before he was ready to comment on them.  While very positively animated during the interview, this was the only time Elop seemed to get a little nervous.

Could Nokia give the U.S. Market the cold shoulder and continue to focus on the global markets with their Windows Phones? Or is it a case where the details on a U.S. launch aren't ironed out enough where Elop was comfortable enough to comment on things?

After the break, catch the video highlights of the interview.

Source: AllThingsDigital