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They have to make a profit or the shareholders, board and employees will doom them.
You can either make it in the hardware while giving away the software (Apple) OR make it in the downstream software and ads (Google Android) - while letting the hardware folks (HTC, LG, Samsung, Motorola) try to give away the hardware (see recent profit numbers for Android phone makers).
Microsoft (after buying Nokia) is situated more like Apple in this space so I doubt they can give away the hardware.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
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I was thinking of how they killed Netscape Navigator by making IE free.
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First of all, they didn't kill off Navigator by making IE free - after all, Navigator was free as well. They killed it by bundling IE within Windows.
Secondly, Android and iOS are already free.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
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Pierre Leclercq wrote: You can read Netscape Navigator Personal edition was costing $39.95
Interesting... I didn't remember that. Thanks!
I think my original point still stands though. Microsoft needs to make a profit to survive and can't do it simply by giving away the OS unless they make money on the hardware (Apple) or the backend (Google) and there are already established leaders in both camps so they have to leapfrog one or both in some important area(s) to gain market share.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
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I've had a WP for about a year and a half and have no complaints. This is my first smartphone so I have nothing to compare it against. I originally got it so I would have the option to develop for WP, which hasn't happened yet. My carrier just released the 8.1 upgrade a few weeks ago, which has some really nice features. I also use the Office 365, but don't find it to be that practical to use on a phone. I have yet to find a use for the much touted Cortana.
I agree that it is a really good product. As for market share, it probably has a lot to do with the number of available apps. 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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It's mainly the lack of apps. Whenever a company says they have mobile apps, that usually means Apple and Android.
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i hear that a lot - but when i ask which apps people want theres generally not a lot of response
so erm...which apps are not available that are deal breakers?
Bryce
MCAD
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Most common one I hear is banking apps. All the major banks in America have Android and iOS apps, but nothing for Windows.
Next most common complaint is popular trending games. By the time Windows gets it, people have moved on to newer games.
And then there's also how even apps that are ported fast enough are far slower and way more unstable that the same apps on other OSes. I'd assume it's because of the thinner pool of high quality mobile devs on Windows.
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Nish Sivakumar wrote: I'd assume it's because of the thinner pool of high quality mobile devs on Windows.
well i'm a very busy man.
B
MCAD
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I didn't mean getting high when I said high quality devs. 
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I think the major US banks - JP Morgan/Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo - do have WP apps. It's rare for any of the smaller banks to offer one on the WP platform. Surprisingly, though, there seem to be a number of credit union apps in the WP store.
The fact that the bank I frequent offers only iPhone and Android apps made me try a Galaxy Note 4 a couple months ago. Really nice hardware, but after 2+ years on the WP platform I struggled with Android and TouchWiz - even though I use a Nexus 7 tablet daily, but mostly for reading with the Kindle app. Anyway, after a 2 week test run the Note 4 got swapped for a Lumia Icon from Verizon, and that raises one other potential reason that WP lags in the US. Verizon treats WP like a leper. Their selection of hardware is a shadow of what AT&T offers, and Verizon's best WP phone is mediocre on the hardware front.
Nonetheless, I really like the Icon and find it SO MUCH easier to use than the wife's iPhone 6. I've got the 8.1 version of the WP platform and Cortana is a really nice feature, comparing pretty well with "OK Google" on Android. Here Maps and Here Drive apps are better than the maps on the iPhone, IMO. No way to compare Google maps to those on WP, so no comment there.
I'm not a heavy user of the phone and neither is the wife. She HAS to charge the iPhone daily while I nearly always go 36 to 48 hours between charges
All just my 2 cents worth
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I don't have a cell phone. I used to have, but I found I'd keep forgetting it, forgetting to charge it and the only time I used it was to phone home to get wifey to put the kettle on. Since we now work at the same place .... Anyway, I don't think I have an axe to grind.
However, my wife has had a Windows phone for years now and absolutely loves it. We have friends and family with iPhones and Android devices. Unless you are hooked in to the corresponding environments I can see no great advantage in either of these (with price and longevity being questionable with Apple). Windows had a big advantage for my wife as we are Windows at home and work and she makes extensive use of Office.
So I agree, it's a mystery to me why it has not caught on. To say that MS is not serious about it or that they aren't good at it is a mystery too as WP is at least as good as any of the others. Humans are very good at reinforcing our own preconceptions, we tend to latch on to half-truths and lies that support our world view. It seems that WP may disappear, like Betamax, for no other reason than it was in last place.
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
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I am with you 100%.
I don't get why people keep saying, that the number of available applications on WP8 are lacking.
Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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As someone who used Windows Phone from version 7 through to a couple of months ago, I do feel I can bring some perspective to this. While I loved the UI and the way it worked, the one thing I couldn't get past was the lack of apps. I'm not talking about numbers here - lord knows, the Windows Phone store is inundated with a huge number of truly terrible applications. What it lacked were the quality applications from companies that I wanted apps from. This is where Android and Apple have the market locked up; companies only have so much development spend, and why would they waste it on low growth devices? Let's face it, we're not bemoaning the lack of apps on Blackberry here, yet it's in a similar situation.
The thing that finally made me give up was the fact that I run my home sound system on Sonos, and there still isn't a WP version of the Sonos controller. I got an HTC M8, installed the app and it auto-opens for me when I come in the house, if the family are playing any music. Until Microsoft can persuade businesses to develop apps for Windows Phone, they are going to be a poor third relation.
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I remember your thread here in the Lounge a few months back. What I got from it was that you were dumping WP because the integration of the social media applications worked "too well", resulting in too many disturbances for you.
Although I am not missing any applications on my WP8, I agree there is a catch 22 when you show up late for the party:
- When most companies develop mobile applications, they start with the ones that have the biggest market share.
- Many people buy a device with a large market share because companies have made applications for them.
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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That seems like a valid reason.
Microsoft needs to pick up on apps like that and see that they get written.
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The came to late and the tile optic was disturbing. And a lot of people are angry since Vista.
Do you remember how Ballmer laughed about the iphone.
But most of all: the came years to late. Remember the crappy Windows Mobile - they earned what the deserve.
PS: I am also sorry about it, because I "was" a Windows programmer with MFC and C# 
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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I use Windows Phone and like it a lot (miles ahead of Android, and I just don't want to use anything Apple). As for the market share - let Microsoft worry about it.
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Unless market share improves, we'll always be behind Apple and Android when it comes to apps.
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Nish Sivakumar wrote: we'll always be behind Apple and Android when it comes to apps
I honestly don't care. The only app I want that is already not coming with the phone is Kindle, and there is Kindle for WinPhone.
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I don't either. But we are not the majority market. Most people want apps.
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Nish Sivakumar wrote: I don't either. But we are not the majority market. Most people want apps.
My guess is if you asked 100 phone buyers what apps they need that are available on platform A but not on platform B that 99 of them couldn't name a single app which isn't available on both platforms.
It is dishonest to pretend that the number apps a phone has should have any impact on what phone the average consumer should purchase. Technology should be purchased to solve a clearly defined need - 99/100 phone buyers could pick any smart phone and have more than they'll ever require.
Nobody needs 100,000+ apps.
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Copy/pasting my reply above :
Most common one I hear is banking apps. All the major banks in America have Android and iOS apps, but nothing for Windows.
Next most common complaint is popular trending games. By the time Windows gets it, people have moved on to newer games.
And then there's also how even apps that are ported fast enough are far slower and way more unstable that the same apps on other OSes. I'd assume it's because of the thinner pool of high quality mobile devs on Windows.
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MehGerbil wrote: 99/100 phone buyers could pick any smart phone and have more than they'll ever require.
Yep, but 99/100 will go with Apple or Android today due to momentum. MSFT needs to build a much better mousetrap that offers something marketable and useful that the others do not (or preferably can't) do. Until then there is no good reason for the 99 to consider MSFT.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
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