Brand News #4
During Microsoft’s recent Build and Inspire conference, CEO
Satya Nadella dropped the company’s mantra of “mobile-first, cloud-first” in
favor of a focus on intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. This new area of
focus means Microsoft is now working on multi-device scenarios and
cloud-powered technologies that don’t always involve Windows. Microsoft’s new
mobile strategy now appears to involve making iOS and Android devices better.
Thus it is not very astonishing when the word was out that
Microsoft is killing off Windows Phone 8.1 support today. The end of support
marks an end to the Windows Phone era, and the millions of devices running on
the operating system. For many, the end came almost a year back when there was
new floating around that Microsoft was not focusing on its Smartphone (hardware
and software) business anymore. AdDuplex, a cross-promotion network for Windows
Store apps and games estimates that nearly 80 percent of all Windows-powered
phones are still running Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8, or Windows Phone 8.1
and now all of them are officially unsupported. The rest 20% are running the
latest Windows 10 Mobile OS.
Windows Phone 8.1 was major update to the core mobile OS
with the addition of company’s Cortana digital assistant, UI improvements and
the likes. Even though it was a hallmark effort from the company, it failed to
match up to the prowess of Android and iOS. Microsoft also went on to drop
Lumia from its product line as almost 99% of all new smartphones ran on iOS or
Android.
While Microsoft still supports Windows 10 Mobile, it’s not
clear how long this will continue. Microsoft’s OS 10 update is being currently
set in motion for PC platform and there is no word as to whether it will be
extended for mobile platforms as well. It is also rumored that Windows 10 for
mobile is being dropped from priority as there are plans to divest the business
by 2018.
However, Microsoft has shied away from officially killing
off its phone OS efforts, maybe for prestige reasons, but it’s been evident
over the past year that the company is no longer focusing its efforts on
Windows for phones and the recent gutting of more than 1000 jobs can vouch for
this fact.
The major takeaway from this news could be what one's core
competency is all about. It’s fine to venture out into new businesses
leveraging on one’s core competency but it’s always not guaranteed that your
expertise in one particular area will help you do well in uncharted waters.
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