Perhaps it exists in Microsoft’s marketing mindset to avoid embarrassing explanations why a company that develops Windows Phone software is now trying to sell an Android phone.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology”, review/learning, Authorized to reprint.
According to foreign media reports, Microsoft does not want you to think that its newly released Surface Duo is a mobile phone, the reason is far from technical. Microsoft insists that Surface Duo is not a mobile phone, perhaps to avoid explaining why a company that produces Windows Phone mobile software is now trying to sell an Android phone.
Surface Duo connects two 5.6-inch screens around the center hinge. It has a modem connected to the network and can make calls. Anyway, Microsoft has built a mobile phone. It even runs the Android operating system.
Panos Panay, Microsoft’s chief product officer, can’t even deny that the Surface Duo is a mobile phone. At the press conference in New York, he admitted that no matter what he said, the media might call it that way.
“Don’t make a mistake.” Banay tried to redirect the media. “This is a Surface device.”
Microsoft’s release of Surface Duo is at a critical juncture, and interest in devices that double the size of your phone’s screen is on the rise. Samsung’s foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, shows the promise of a large screen that you can fold into your pocket, but it also exposes the problem that a flexible screen is far weaker than glass. With Surface Duo, Microsoft believes it can do better than a fragile folding phone.
In Surface Duo, Microsoft is trying to do its best in both areas, creating a phone that has twice the size of a large screen and a solid glass screen.
Why can’t a Surface device be a mobile phone at the same time?
It’s a mobile phone or a Surface device, the difference is mainly semantic. Perhaps it exists in Microsoft’s marketing mindset to avoid embarrassing explanations why a company that develops Windows Phone software is now trying to sell an Android phone.
Maybe Surface Duo explains “mobile phone” why it doesn’t have a second external screen like the Galaxy Fold. Maybe Microsoft is not willing to admit defeat after closing its mobile phone business in 2016 – Lumia 650 is the lastA mobile phone running mobile Windows software.
The Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail: “Surface Duo is more than just a phone call – it is a dual-screen Surface device that fits in the pocket and will give Microsoft the best office experience, Android. The application and Surface hardware design are integrated into one device.”
According to NPD Group, Windows Mobile’s market share has been rising before the iPhone was launched in 2007. In the second quarter of 2007, Windows Mobile’s market share in the United States was 50%, and according to O’Reilly, Windows Mobile’s global market share was 12%.
In the beginning, Windows Mobile software had a sophisticated file system that turned a small screen phone into a mini computer, perfect for geeks on the go. But Apple’s iOS, which is more in line with people’s intuition, has attracted the attention of the public. A year later, the Google Android operating system came out and quickly matured.
Although Window Mobile, Windows Phone and Windows for Phone have undergone several major adjustments, Microsoft’s mobile operating system is still difficult to match the features and applications of Android and iOS – even after the acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone business. .
By 2011, Windows Mobile only accounted for 2% of the US market share, while Android soared to 53% of the market, while iOS accounted for 29%. Just a few years ago, Android was still unremarkable; and now joining the Android trend will be a bitter fruit for any previous competitor.
Microsoft disagrees with this. Its spokesperson wrote in an email: “We build our products on top of Android, just like we built the Edge browser on Chromium, in order to present the best things of the two companies to us. User.”
In the past, Microsoft’s mobile business may be very versatile, but today, under the leadership of Banay and CEO Satya Nadella, it is taking the first place to save its smartphone reputation. A necessary step. Any form of impact is its long-term goal.
However, by giving Surface Duo an Android operating system and calling feature, Microsoft has returned to the topic of people – no matter what device you want to call it.