By I’m sure you’ve all heard reports of Samsung shifting their focus to Windows Phone 7 in 2011 with a reported 63% of their mobile smartphone launches carrying the OS while only 32% will run Android. Most people would begin running around, arms in air, asking if this spells doom for Android considering one of its biggest supporters is dialing down their line-up, but I say nay.
Samsung jumped into the Android pool back when we were still itching for devices not made by HTC to come storming our way, and quickly they realized just how important Android would be to their business model. Unfortunately for them, they probably didn’t forecast Android’s growth as accurately as some of the industry’s leading research firms have and they’ve since found themselves knee-deep in comeptition from the likes of HTC, Motorola, and more. We’re not even counting the little names who’re using Android to keep their aspirations afloat.
It’s easy to see, then, that Samsung simply wants to emulate the success they had in 2009 with Windows Phone 7 going into 2011. The market there is much smaller, the operating system itself succeeds a version which – not too long ago – enjoyed great mindshare, and even with all of WP7’s inherent drawbacks (the fee that comes with licensing it, the lack of freedom Samsung has to customize it compared to Android, etc.), Windows Phone 7 will be a hot item to advertise this holiday season as folks look for “a good smartphone that isn’t the iPhone.”
And dialing down their support for Android doesn’t mean they’ll become irrelevant in that space: we fully expect them to introduce new flagship devices throughout 2011 which will build upon the already-impressive Samsung Galaxy S. They’re simply using an idea that’s prominent in football: less volume, more quality. Samsung didn’t exactly flood the Android-filled market in 2010, but they didn’t need to: they had some quite decent mid-range devices to sell to the budget-conscious consumers, a Galaxy S line for the power users, and the tablet to kick-off Android’s new “big slate”-bound future. That’s good balance, and we expect they’ll keep that up going into 2011 and beyond.
[via GigaOM]
Personally I don’t see Windows 7 phones outselling current Android devices, but that’s just me.
Dig your grave Samsung, just don’t dig too deep, we want our Galaxy S II!!!
That’s Galaxy S 2^^^
I agree with you ToastnJam and also let me add to this. WM7 absoluttely sucks. I can say that first hand because my neighboor who test’s phones for T-Mobile before they even come out told me the Microsoft Screwed up again. So the answer is no!!! Android has no threat from anyone anymore. No one can stop it.
Not sure what Samsung is doing – I don’t get tweets on their marketing think. But all I want is a rich user experience and I’m hardware/OS/Carrier agnostic.
Must haves:
– Speed: Web surfing must be quick – none of this 3G “slower than cold snot” performance. Video streaming must be smooth – no stuttering.
– Netflix and Hulu support: no exceptions, no excuses.
– Video chat: Must support Skype.
– At least two generation OS support: None of this frozen at Android 2.1 crap.
Now looking at the list, and considering that I don’t care about the OS/Carrier/Hardware, Windows 7, on any hardware that supports an existing fast carrier would be my ideal phone.
LTE, which stands for “Late To Everywhere” won’t be a reality for at 2 years, despite the Verizon blather to the contrary.
WiMax is real where I live and it is fast.
HSPA+ is Where? When? And backward compatible to what?
Google hasn’t put the effort into solving the content problem, (something Steve Jobs did years ago), so Android still has silly limitations with Netflix.
Samsung either has a stupid architecture, or they’ve spent $5’s of dollars towards things like getting Froyo on the Epic. Sort of makes me wonder if Samsung can really play in this market with Android. MicroSoft might be Samsung’s savior here.
I think W7 will totally crush Android unless Google gets serious. I’m not the only one wanting this user experience.
Samsung is just a terrible company with terrible software and mediocre hardware. Their screens are the only thing nice about them. maybe hummingbird
This is another reason samsuck has given me to stay from their products.
Any reason they can’t be the same phones?
Just choose your OS?
@ Wrceuro. “I can say that first hand because my neighbor who test’s phones for T-Mobile before they even come out told me the Microsoft Screwed up again.” I believe that is second hand.
Though I believe it is hard for anyone to compete against free (Android), the general market is often influenced in it’s purchases by perceived cachet. Currently the iPhone has the cachet, but it is waning fast. From my readings, MS Winmo 7 is apparently quite good. But that doesn’t really matter to many purchasers, what matters is perception. (Why do so many people keep iphones that they can barely talk on) And if Winmo7 gets the cool image…?
Currently, several popular TV shows have the main characters using WINMO 7 phones. The scenes have phone closeups and character statements about the phone. MS has obviously paid a lot to the productions to get these phones on screen and in the hands of stars. (just as apple does to get Macs in the hands of every “cool” teen character) In addition, the Winmo 7 product placement scenes look almost natural, and not the internal commercial that they are. Further, the devices look cool and different from the now ubiquitous iPhone–hence they appear exclusive.
As for the iPhone losing it’s glow, I am 1 of 3 in my office of 21 that does not have an iPhone (1 BB, 2 droids) Recently I’ve heard several iPhone owners and apple enthusiasts say “this new iphone really sucks”. I had never expected to hear this form these people. Thought the diehards will never switch, Several may look for a “new” thing, and currently the MS marketing is much more appealing than android.
meh, no big loss. that’s less buggy, shitty, plasticky phones on the market that don’t get updated, which means less fragmentation.
Humm, so why is Google ditching HTC and going with Samsung for the new Nexus if Samsung is talking about moving away from Android. Very odd.
Wrceuro, your neighbor’s testimony about WM7 isn’t “first hand.” And its WP7, and my Samsung Focus is great!
^
^
What he said!
Yeah – I HIGHLY doubt that Microsoft is charging ANY licensing fee to get these phones on the market. They are probably paying the manufacturers to put on WM7 phones. If they are able to regain some market share, then they will charge again.
Samsung is moving away from Android when their Galaxy S and Tab are selling very well. I guess they scrap their Nexus S next.
Haha i was so hoping that phandroid would post something about this just so i could read the funny responses from android Fanatics…
I gave windows phones 7 a try just because it is new and fresh….it lacks some features that i have grown used to with android such as cut and paste, multitasking, and a few apps i have yet to find equivalents on wp7
However there are so many area in my opinion that windows phone 7 excels at such as uniformity with the UI vs the excess of UI on android which means updates faster for all devices at the same time vs android some now, some later, and some never.
Multimedia excels vs android lackluster multimedia offering except the galaxy s(which has the best)
Gaming is great
i went back to try android again and Im sorry it just feels…old and antiquated.
I think there is plenty of room for all three(ios,android, wp7)
Oh…and RIM
I know there are scores of MS haters out there, but WP7 the metro UI is a great experience. It’s clean, seamless, fast, unique, and cool. Sure 1.0 has technical shortcomings v. Iphone 4, but this is essentially a consumer product and those differences, while they last, affect hardcore users only.
Maybe I should get an evo/shift instead of the epic. F*** you samsung. Now galaxy S owners are assured they will never get anything beyond 2.2 (officially anyway, still watching cyanogenmod progress).
If it wasn’t for the hummingbird and the super amoled I would have chosen the Evo for sure.
I know a guy who got the Samsung Jet about one year ago and had so many problems (it had the board replaced in warranty) that he refused to buy a Galaxy S as I suggested him, and just got an iPhone 4 instead.
This is Samsung’s fault.
The Samsung Jet would be much better phone for it’s price if it had android…
@tb1820 Samsung is a electronics company.
The more they manufacture, the better for them. Why can’t they make mobiles for other OS’s? they aren’t ditching android at all.
I bet half of these Samsung haters (who haven’t held a Galaxy S in their hands, let alone use one) haven’t even read the article fully.
you guys have to give credit to window. Captivate vs focus is pretty close. samsung sucks on updating though!
I wouldn’t be too surprised if we find out MS was paying for the R&D of those extra WP7 phones.
WP7 has all the appearance of being a heavily based social networking device, and little beyond that. For people who like that, more power to them. I’m more for the customization and power use that Android allows. Android already showed its power, and continues to do so. Sales will keep going strong, even without full support of Samsung. They aren’t the only OEM.
As an Epic 4G owner, I’m not all that worried about this news. I already don’t use Sammy’s UI, and if I’m dying for software updates I can always just root. What matters to me is the Super AMOLED screen and full keyboard, a combination I couldn’t get on any other device.
Oh well. I’d rather get an iphone than wp7. Samsung is shooting itself in the foot. Bye bye. Lg is making waves in android so no biggie if samsung loses.
I think Windows Phone 7 will win in this war !
Great news, now they can take everything they learned from making dishwashers and refrigerators and apply it to wp7 as well! These mutli-faceted companies are so impressive, they are able to innovate at the same level as their competitors who only focus on one specific market. Rim, moto, htc and others need to realise that they would make much better phones if they spread their focus out into other markets, that’s the secret…
WHAT BOUT THE GALAXY QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ?????
GALAXY Q!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, WP7 is a failure already. Too little too late on a crowded market. Sure, Microsoft employees are praising it in the comments, but one company’s employees are a small portion of the market.
It’s only a matter of time before someone comes up with a Metro UI theme/home replacement/launcher for Android.
I have played with the WP7 phones at AT&T, and am not at all pleased with the browser. It seems to take a long time to load, and does not render properly. Text is jumbled and hard to read. This on all 3 models that AT&T sells. It might gain some traction when it goes to Sprint and Verizon, but I really don’t see it being a major player.
On last nights episode of Chase, the main character broke out her Windows 7 phone at least a half a dozen times to blog, search, (Via BING mind you) text and make calls. It almost seemed like an advertisement for the Windows 7 phones the way she broke it out to use it for every little thing.
The hardware that they have for WinMo7 are just repackaged Galaxy S devices so it’s not like they are redesigning from scratch. They already have big winners on the Android front so it seems to me that they are just trying to get in early on WinMo7 in case it takes off like Android, that way they will be big players on all fronts.