How goes Microsoft’s big mobile comeback? By some measures, not so great. In the three months ending in February, for instance, Microsoft's share of U.S. smartphone subscribers was 3.9% -- down from 5.2% last November and 7.7% last February, according to comScore. “Even now, more than a year after Microsoft started shipping Windows Phone 7 devices, U.S. mobile customers are getting rid of Microsoft devices faster than they're buying new ones,” remarks ReadWriteWeb.
“Longer term, Microsoft's share has been in a freefall: comScore had it at 18% at the end of 2009, and 36% in late 2007, the year Apple introduced the iPhone.” Since then, Apple and Google have secured the bulk of the smartphone market, with more than 80% of U.S. smartphones, by comScore's latest calculations. What’s the matter with Microsoft?
For one, “Microsoft's phones -- though decent -- just aren't good enough to demand attention,” suggests RWW. “They're certainly better now than they used to be -- especially the new Lumia series from Nokia -- but that isn't enough. To cause any real damage to Apple or Google, Microsoft's phones would have to be dramatically better than the competition, and they just aren't.”