Image via Microsoft
For a while, it seemed that the Windows phone could be a legitimate competitor to IOS and Android. Microsoft went big on the advertising game and platform began to see some widespread adoption. It quickly became clear, however, that Windows Mobile was not long for this world. From the very beginning, Microsoft had a problem trying to get developers to port their apps to their mobile platform, and when you don’t have any apps, users don’t want to use your porducts, and when you don’t have anybody using your products, developers don’t want to make apps for them. Microsoft never was able to break this vicious cycle and in 2017, Microsoft announced they were finally completely giving up on their system, effectively declaring it dead. Today marked the last day of the Windows 10 Store, which while barren back in the day, was especially empty now. But that begs the question, what will Microsoft do next? It’s indisputable that the PC is on its way out, and mobile devices are, currently, where the market is going. So what will Microsoft, a company that seemingly has most of its eggs in the PC basket, do to survive this mobile future? Right now the answer to that seems to be partnering with mobile companies like Samsung and Google, and using their platforms as gateways to get users into the Windows ecosystem. Microsoft partnered with Samsung to give their users exclusive Windows features when they plug their Smasung phones into Windows machines, and now, Microsoft has gone as far as to sell Samsung’s phones in their stores. Furthermore, Microsoft partnered with Google for their upcoming Surface Duo, a folding phone produced by Microsoft that will run Google’s Android. It seems that Microsoft is not putting their eggs in one basket after all, and instead trying to establish footholds in the Mobile world and seeing what sticks. While this could work out better than betting bug in one solution, it could come around to bite them, with a decentralized and disorganized product lineup that could hinder innovation and the quality of user experiences. While Microsoft has proven itself a force in the tech industry time and time again, it will be interesting to see how they handle the rapidly changing landscape and see if they can hold on and move forward, or fall back and become a footnote along the lines of IBM in the annuls of tech history.