Can Windows Phone 7 Series succeed?

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The updated Windows Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series will include support for credit card or carrier billing, a try before you buy option, and ad-funded apps.

To buy apps using the Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace, you can either add them to your monthly bill or use a credit card. Once the purchase is complete, the app can be added to the quick launch option within the UI.

This will potentially give more flexibility than the iPhone’s App Store, although developers need to fully come onboard before it will see the same success as Apple’s App Store.

What's missing?

Although there are requirements for devices running on Windows Phone 7 Series, there are also some important smartphone features missing from the OS.

Microsoft has made the decision not to include multitasking, cut and paste functionality or Flash in Windows Phone 7, once again demonstrating that it’s a platform built primarily for consumers rather than business users.

Without multitasking, it could be considered that Windows Phone 7 Series isn’t a smartphone platform at all, but a high-flying feature phone.

However, the iPhone is still a device that's proved extremely popular with business users, so maybe Microsoft is trying to win back its smartphone share by producing something that’s so similar to the iPhone, it may as well be the iPhone.

The final issue with Windows Phone 7 Series is that although it’s already been announced, devices running the OS won’t be available until the end of the year. By then, there’ll most likely be a new iPhone, Android will have been updated and if leaked screenshots of the next BlackBerry upgrade are anything to be believed, the OS will be antiquated before it even arrives.

Market share

So how will all these decisions affect Microsoft’s place in the smartphone market?

Windows Phone 7 Series may be described as Microsoft’s flagship OS, co-existing with Windows 6.5, but it’s clear the former is designed mainly for consumers, while the latter is for business users.

Although Windows 6.5 may still not be where business users want it to be, compared to BlackBerry, it’s still a top platform for business users, and that’s because it has evolved somewhat to suit user demand.

Windows Phone 7 Series is a completely new platform for Microsoft – almost like Google’s Android platform or Apple’s Mac OS stepping into the limelight once again.

Windows Phone 7 Series has the potential to be successful, but nothing feels innovative about it. It’s almost as if Microsoft is consciously trying to take on the iPhone single-handedly.

Will it work for Microsoft? Only time will tell.

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