I just finished reading a great article by Charlie Kindel and he has managed to encapsulate all my hopes and fears for the upcoming Windows Phone 8 release. Everyone is concerned about what it means for Nokia because that will effect us both as a consumer and eventually as developer.
As a consumer I have all the options in the world, my first choice, stand pat with Windows Phone, I genuinely like the phone but I have a frustrating upgrade path coming, aka buy a new WP8, uggh. I could also go all in on iOS, I already have one in the house, and I am guaranteed to not have to worry about missing vital apps. Finally, I could follow the ubiquitous but splintered Android crowd, I have two of these devices, lying around but having a consistent experience across devices continues to be a challenge.
As a Windows Phone app developer I am weighing these options a little more carefully based on my desire to see a reasonable return on my time. Admittedly my apps began as a labor of love, one where making money was a tertiary concern. However, two years later I really need a reason to continue, and frankly a 3% OS market share will no longer do it.
This is what I need from and for the WP ecosystem:
- An 8-12% market share by the end of 2013.
- A better and more powerful way for developers to market apps independently (this does not have to come from MS).
- Marketing, marketing, marketing. Everyday people still do not know there is a viable third option.
- An all in signal from the major US carriers … I mean all of them!
- Lots of low end phone options (see ‘free’) for “month to month” mobile subscribers.
- Significant uptake from business users (they have been ignored for long enough).
That is all.
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