Microsoft's eight mistakes

December 5, Beijing time, the technology website CNET recently published an article signed by David Carnoy, said that the first month of Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft sold 40 million licenses, such results look Like scenery, in fact, "foreign and dry." The launch of Windows 8 did not save PC sales. There are eight main reasons for this, including the high cost of Windows 8 upgrades, and Windows RT's confusing users and overpriced Surface PCs.

The following is the main content of the article:

A few days ago, Tami Reller, chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Windows division, announced that since the official release of the Windows 8 operating system on October 26, the company had sold 40 million licenses. On the surface, Windows 8 has a good start, but from the recent articles published by CNET and other media, it can be seen that Windows 8 has a disadvantage, and its related hardware products have also experienced a chain reaction.

On November 29, an article in The New York Times quoted market research organization NPD as saying that sales of Windows PCs and tablet PCs were sluggish. “The prospects of Windows 8 are bleak.” According to NPD's data, in the four weeks from October 21 to November 17 this year, Windows PC retail sales in the United States fell 21% year-on-year; Windows tablet sales were “nearly negligible” (in all Windows 8 device sales The proportion is less than 1%).

Windows 8 should have drastically boosted sales of PCs, rather than allowing product sales to decline. So where is the problem? Of course, Microsoft is a large company that sits on a large sum of cash and can pay for its own faults.

The following are the 8 biggest mistakes Microsoft has made:

1. Windows 8 upgrade costs are too high

There are four or five Windows devices in my home. If each device costs $40 to upgrade, I will consider the issue of upgrade costs. In fact, Windows 7 is also very good, there is no reason why I should choose to upgrade, especially if none of these devices is a touch screen. Moreover, I am also accustomed to Apple's new operating system. The system allows users to purchase an OS upgrade kit through their personal iTunes account. It can upgrade at least 5 devices that use the account at a cost of only $20.

Of course, the upgrade of Windows 8 is much bigger than Apple's one-year upgrade. However, I am not an advocate of “one machine for one card”. I hope that one upgrade license can be used for at least three devices and five for the best.

2. Windows RT puzzles

A few months ago, I was told that Microsoft's Surface RT Tablet PC is not Windows 8 Pro, Windows RT, and the system does not support older versions of Windows software. I was shocked by the news. What is Windows RT? Why did Microsoft launch Windows 8 Tablet PCs that support the old version of Windows software after months of launching Windows RT tablets?

In fact, I think, Surface's hardware is really good, but the device does not make me feel uncomfortable, non-buy, because it does not have a unique killer feature that can make it stand out from the competition. Therefore, I still expect Microsoft to launch a genuine Windows 8 tablet with an iPad price.

3. Surface Pro tablet is overpriced

When Microsoft released the Surface Pro tablet several months ago, it did not disclose the price of the product. At that time, many people had speculated that this is a high-end product. The tablet named Surface Pro is a real Windows 8 tablet and the price will be quite high. They guessed right. Microsoft recently announced that the Surface Pro tablet without a keyboard starts at $899 (if the user wants to buy a keyboard, they must pay another $100). That being the case, why don't I buy a touchscreen Ultrabook at the same price and twice the battery life of Surface Pro?

4. Puzzles on Touchscreen and Non-Touchscreen Windows 8 Notebooks

Previously, I had suggested to some readers at CNET to purchase a Windows 8 laptop with a touch screen. My colleagues believe that touch screen devices are worth recommending because the Windows 8 Metro Metro UI is more suitable for touch screen interfaces.

Needless to say, this has caused confusion for some consumers. Through Windows 8's TV commercials, I discovered Sony, Dell and other touch screen laptops (such as Lenovo Yoga and Acer Aspire S7). I don’t know which one to choose, so I said to myself, “I have to wait until everything is settled and wait for the next generation of Windows 8 devices to go on the market in 2013. Before that, I will seriously consider it.”

5. Developers do not buy it

Still on November 29th, the New York Times published another article titled "IDC: Microsoft encountered mobile software clearing year" (Microsoft Faces'Year of Reckoning in Mobile Software,'IDC says). The article quoted a survey of market research firm IDC, said that according to a survey of developers, 33% of respondents stated that they are interested in a portable application for Windows 8 tablet; 21% of respondents are willing to be Windows Phone. 7 Develop software. In contrast, 85% and 83% of developers are interested in writing applications for the iPhone and iPad. 76% and 66% of developers are willing to develop applications for Android smartphones and tablets. They are willing to use BlackBerry devices. The number of developers writing software is very small.

IDC believes that "If you are willing to develop applications for mobile platforms, if you do not break the 50% threshold, then the mobile platform will lose its attractiveness to developers and gradually decline." In other words, unless Microsoft can Quickly attract and increase the interest of developers to their platform, otherwise Microsoft will "fall off the cliff."

A developer who asked not to be named said, “Microsoft is showing their own applications. They did not provide us with any actual monetary incentives to develop applications for them. In this regard, It is difficult for us to use development resources on Microsoft smartphones and tablets. We can't make money from it."

6. Windows Phones and Tablets Lack of Influential People Promotion

In recent years, Microsoft has spent billions of dollars on advertising, spending millions of dollars at a time. This is nothing. Rich companies generally do this, even when the rate of return is low. However, the influence of Microsoft’s media in recent years is questionable. The media often has a lot of articles about Apple, Amazon and Google’s (microblogging) products, and Microsoft’s public relations staff does not seem to communicate well with the media.

On October 25th this year, Microsoft released the Windows 8 operating system in New York. Many media at the time wanted Microsoft to conduct an Oprah-style delivery and present a Surface tablet to all participants, but the result was not in this way. On October 24th, Samsung released its new Galaxy series of smart phones in New York and distributed products to the media for experience. The same is true of Google. At the Google I/O Developer Conference, it distributed the latest Nexus tablet and mobile products to the participants. Apple and Amazon also distributed products such as iPods and Kindles to participants at their respective product launches.

The free distribution of products is not a "buying" media, but is for the key influencers such as journalists, tech bloggers and school students to truly experience new products and systems in their lives. Microsoft needs to give more people the opportunity to use their devices and advertise their products before developers actually get involved in their platforms. This is an effect that traditional advertising models cannot achieve.

7. Windows 8 has no logotype mobile phone

No matter how much updating, iPhone has only one model, so Apple has benefited a lot. The Android market is relatively decentralized, but some of the earlier Motorola models have performed outstandingly. Now, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the real Android star.

Nokia has yet to launch a killer Windows 8 phone. Lumia 920 is very good, but in today's highly competitive market, it can not support a strong enough ecological environment to compete with competitors. Microsoft needs its own "iPhone 5" or "Galaxy S3" to gain a winning opportunity.

8. Spread the opportunity to expand the Xbox brand

Microsoft Xbox is a powerful brand that has successfully captured the home entertainment market and has a large number of diehard users. However, Microsoft failed to establish the Xbox brand across platforms. As CNET contributor Jason Hiner said, Microsoft's smartphone should be "xPhone" rather than a Windows product.