At this day and age, Android and iOS rule the smartphone world, but that was not always the case. There was a time when Windows was the prominent operating system and while the same has lost a lot of its market share since failure may have been the best thing for it. Microsoft is now using the opportunity to start over.
As noted by Forbes, Gartner's figures for smartphone sales from the fourth quarter of 2016 are proof of the dominance of Android and iOS. Together, the two made up about 99.6 percent of usage. The nearest competitor, Microsoft's Windows 10 on Smartphone is incredibly behind with three-tenths of just 1 percent. But while the numbers are daunting, the publication continues to state that it is the best possible situation.
The demise of Windows was not evident at the beginning as Microsoft once held a commanding position in the US smartphone market. But then Google and Apple came into the picture and the Redmond-based company failed to catch up. And after some time, when the moment to lead was far gone, the company decided to play copy and catch up instead.
Microsoft decided to take a secondary place from Google and copied Android as best as it could. And while this may have worked at one point or another, keeping up with competition became impossible when the Redmond-based company was unable to match Google's level of third-party support. There was less interest in the platform that was so limited compared to its competition.
But as the publication argued, the situation allows Microsoft to virtually start over. If it held 2 percent or 3 percent of the market, executives might have argued to keep it going on the off-chance that it will pick up. Instead, the lack of market hold allows CEO Satya Nadella to fight the battle in cloud-based services instead.
It pointed out that the key to grabbing customers is no longer the operating system alone, but those cloud services are vital. The idea is to have individuals get their hands on Windows 10 cloud no matter where or what they use. With this type of strategy, it is likely that Microsoft will rule the next wave in the mobile industry.
But in what could be the best hardware move for the company, there is strong speculation about an upcoming Service Phone. Auto World News has confirmed that no official statement has been released on the unit, but that has not slowed down the rumor mill. The excitement circles around Nadella calling the handheld the "ultimate device."
The Surface Phone is expected to be tough competition for Apple, Google, and Samsung in the smartphone market. Nadella also explained that the company is building a device that will be the envy of various players in the market. The idea is, once again, not to make a better copy, but to create something entirely new that cannot be ignored. When the company will actually release or announce the product is still unknown at this point.
