Windows Mobile Market Oct 2016 - a pretty sad state

On Oct 19th, AdDuplex published their Windows Device Statistics report for Oct 2016.

 It reflects a pretty sad state of Windows Mobile.   Here are some of the low lights.

 Worldwide - none of the newest Windows Mobile devices crack the top 10 in terms of percentage in use.   In fact the top two devices are the 2 year old Lumia 535 and the 3 year old 520 which make up nearly 25% of all Windows Phones.  

 The top 10 (67.3% of all Windows Phones) is made up entirely of entry and mid models, like the 435, 520, 530, 535, 640, etc.   All of these were initially WP 8/8.1 devices.  

 While not on the market that long the new HP Elite X3 ranks 36th.  Not very encouraging for HP and with all the software and firmware glitches that have been reported, I fear it is a lame duck device.  Even cutting the price of the 950/950XL by 40% hasn't really changed things.

 Additionally the percentage of Windows 10 phones has barely moved and is at 13.7%. And of that number less than 6% are running Insider Builds. 
Nearly 80% of all Windows Phones are still at WP 8.1 and will most likely never upgrade.  

 In the global smartphone market where MS is only at 1% of the total - this reflects how much of a failure Windows Mobile has been.  

 In fact MS reported in their most recent record quarter that Windows Mobile revenue dropped 72% from 2015.  It's basically fade to black...

 Regardless of whether you like Windows Mobile or not, the reality is that is has cost MS billions in terms of acquisition and write off costs with really nothing to show for it.  The total cost per phone sold must be staggering...

 MS needs to put the final stake in the heart of this beast and stop Windows 10 Mobile OS development.  They can complete the Redstone 2 cycle, but I say after that.  Just stop.  Nothing the company will do at this point will allow it to get to 5% or even 10% of the worldwide market.



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