Windows Phone Thoughts: Mini-Microsoft on the State of Windows Mobile

"Holy. Crap. I don't think we have any unbruised skin left on our body to take any more lumps regarding our mobile strategy. The Microsoft Mismanagement theory is in full force as we throw any willing body into the Mobile effort...Look. Let's talk about device loyalty. I first started with owning PocketPCs. An HP Jornada. I loved it. When upgrade time came, HP had bought Compaq and abandoned the Jornada for the iPAQ (what, they had the iThing first?). So, unable to upgrade to the next CE, I cursed a little and bought one of those iPAQs. But HP decided not to allow it to be upgraded. So I switched to Dell to get their latest Axim PocketPC. Dell would be a safe bet, right? And Dell gave up on the line. My latest act of company loyalty: getting a powerful HTC WinMo 6 device. It was cut-off the 6.5 train, and soon, I'm going to be buying a new phone. And I'm going to buy an iPhone."

The blog run by Mini-Microsoft has always been a fascinating read, though I confess I haven't checked it out in quite a few months - I really wish there was an RSS to Email subscription form because I'm RSS-phobic now. But I digress...Mini-Microsoft is a Microsoft employee, likely in a fairly senior position, who uses anonymity to write some very poignant things about the state of Microsoft as a company. His (her?) take on the state of mobile at Microsoft is particularly accurate - Microsoft's decision years ago to completely cede authority to the carriers has resulted in a long string of bad decisions and poor treatment of customers. The carriers may want customers to think of their expensive smartphones are being disposable, but most customers don't think that way when they've spend $200+ (or much more unlocked) for a high-end smartphone. Mini-Microsoft correctly pegs this problem as one of leadership - and while I hear things are getting better, these new leaders have a lot of damage to undo.

I read recently that one of the reasons why Microsoft hasn't done better in the mobile space is because the revenues simply don't amount to much - Microsoft never took this space seriously in the past because it wasn't making enough money off it. They entered this business because they felt they should be in the space rather than let their competitors completely control it - just look at the Zune for another example of this - but ultimately, they didn't really care about it. Given what we've heard from Steve Ballmer over the past 12 months about Windows Mobile, I think that the leadership finally does care about the mobile space. The question is, what are they going to do about it?