Microsoft – Under the rug

Microsoft continues to hide its light under a bushel.

• The reviews of Windows Phone 8.1 are starting to come in and they are pretty positive all round.
• Those that have lived with the new software for several days are finding that the updates have created a significant improvement in the user experience.
• New features such as Cortana, Action Center, WiFi/Data Sense and the UI changes have all been pretty well received.
• Windows Phone still lacks a lot of apps. but this problem is being addressed albeit much more slowly than I had hoped.
• Furthermore it looks like there is a whole host of Windows Phones being developed for launch this year.
• Hence the summer and autumn should see something like 8 new devices launched all with the updated user experience.
• This is exactly the kind of activity that is needed to make the Windows ecosystem a success but a critical piece is still missing.
• User awareness of Windows Phone and the ecosystem remains almost non-existent and until Microsoft educates the users, many of these improvements will go unnoticed.
• The majority of Windows Phone devices at retail which potential buyers get to play with have no data on them.
• This effectively means that they get no real idea of what it will be like to live their Digital Lives with Windows Phone
• iPhone and Android are brands in their own right but Windows Phone does not have this luxury and so it must tell everyone explicitly why it is great.
• Microsoft’s marketing to date has been focused on announcing the presence of Windows 8 but has yet to explain to anyone why they should buy it.
• Until this changes, market share is going to remain far below its potential and the good work of its device and software engineers will go unnoticed.
• It is encouraging to see improvements at the product end but now the message must be spread far and wide.
• I am still hopeful that Microsoft can make a real go of its ecosystem as investments in products should logically be matched with investments in marketing.
• Microsoft has vast resources and I am hopeful that Microsoft is aware of the shortcomings in its message.
• Microsoft along with Yahoo! and Google are my favoured ways to look at the mobile ecosystem.