Charlie Kindel was on the Windows Phone team at Microsoft as an app developer, before he left in August to form his own start up company. However, that doesn"t mean he has forgotten about Microsoft and Windows Phone. In a new blog post on his personal web site, Kindel gives his opinion on why Windows Phone has yet to gain a lot of traction with the general smartphone buying public.
Kindel isn"t being critical of the operating system itself. Indeed, he believes that Windows Phone is much better than the competition. In a previous blog post, he states, "A typical non-geek consumer would be absolutely-fraking-crazy to pick an Android phone over a Windows Phone. Windows Phone is vastly more refined, cohesive, and easy to use. Period."
So why are Android smartphones selling more devices than Windows Phone products? Kindel believes that Google makes things easier for both device makers and wireless carriers with Android. He states, "It enabled device manufactures to do what they do best (build lots of devices). It enabled carriers to do what they do best (market lots of devices). It enabled users tons of choice."
For Windows Phone, Microsoft has made the decision to have more control over what devices are made by the phone manufacturers and how the devices will be updated via wireless carriers. As a result, Kindel claims the marketing dollars go to the Android devices from those carriers. Kindel says, "Spending marketing dollars advertising WP7 requires Microsoft to push hard on the carriers."
All is not lost, however. Kindel says that Microsoft"s relationship with Nokia on its new Lumia smartphones could signal a change in Windows Phone"s market share. He states, "I know that MS can be very persistent & patient; it’s been so in the past. We will see."