Microsoft's New Windows Phone 7: Novel But Lacking
Nearly four years after Apple unveiled the iPhone, and more than two years after Google introduced its first Android smartphone, Microsoft is launching its effort to catch up. On Nov. 8, AT&T and T-Mobile will begin selling …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 in February and followed with a reported more than $500 million push to jump-start the platform. By late September, Microsoft and AT&T were preparing the handset unveiling, turning the launch into a carrier-backed attempt to re-enter a market already shaped by Apple and Android.
The review framing matters because it separates a distinctive interface from the gaps that can impede a catch-up platform. AT&T and T-Mobile are set to begin sales on November 8, giving Microsoft its first immediate retail test.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains a launched smartphone platform and AT&T and T-Mobile gain Windows Phone 7 handsets to sell alongside their existing phone portfolios.
- Apple and Google face a newly funded Microsoft alternative for carrier shelf space and prospective smartphone buyers.
Second-order effects
- AT&T and T-Mobile must determine whether Windows Phone 7 merits marketing and sales attention that might otherwise support Apple or Android devices.
- Microsoft's earlier spending to seed Windows Phone 7 raises the pressure to convert carrier distribution into a credible developer and handset ecosystem.
Third-order effects
- The launch reinforces smartphones as a contest among operating-system platforms, where interface design, carrier support and ecosystem investment must move together.
- If Microsoft can close the shortcomings identified in the review, carriers may have greater leverage against the Apple- and Android-centered handset market; if not, platform spending alone will not overcome buyer and developer inertia.
The trend: Smartphone competition is consolidating around operating-system platforms that must coordinate software, handset partners and carrier distribution.