Microsoft is on the right path
Last September 9, Cherry Mobile surprised everyone in the industry with their newest Windows Phone powered Alpha Luxe and Style, as well as their Windows Tablets Morph and Play. In a market that’s drenched to the bone with Android devices, Cherry Mobile’s new offerings are a breath of fresh air, and gives Microsoft a strong ally in promoting Windows Phone, especially to the masses.
And Microsoft needs all the help it can. In developing markets like the Philippines, Windows Phone lags far behind in overall marketshare compared to juggernaut Android and iOS. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is cost – even before it was bought by Microsoft, Nokia has always struggled to deliver a truly low-cost Windows Phone powered device that could go toe-to-toe with affordable Android devices in developing countries.
The Cherry-Microsoft deal probably had its start back in April, when Microsoft officially announced that they were waiving license fees to use Windows Phone 8 (and Windows 8) free on phones and tablets with screens less than 9-inches. This was a powerful message that Microsoft was finally getting the picture that their previous business model was no longer relevant in today’s world where people expect their software to come free with their device.
From the looks of things during the launch, Microsoft’s partnership with Cherry Mobile is a great win for both companies, but more so for Microsoft. At its very core, Windows Phone isn’t a bad OS – in fact, it’s probably one of the best optimized OS currently out there for mobile devices. Even paired with really crappy hardware (we’re talking dual-core, 512MB of RAM), Microsoft’s OS still ran relatively well, which is far from the truth in Android devices. Cherry Mobile’s low cost Windows Phones will allow users to try the OS with minimal risk, and judging from the interest in our articles and hands-on, that’s what the masses have been waiting for – a way to try Windows Phone without getting bankrupt in the process. Cherry Mobile’s Windows Tablets are generating a good amount of buzz as well – it’s still early days, but if history repeats itself, Cherry Mobile may do to the local PC industry what it did to mobile phones when it first entered the scene a few years ago.
International brands, you need to be worried.
It’s still too early to see if Cherry Mobile’s new Windows Powered phones will make waves but there’s already indications of interest in both our articles and in Cherry’s own Facebook page, as well as group pages devoted to CM’s products. Karrie Ilagan, Country Managing Director for Microsoft would not confirm if the company would be rolling out the same initiative in other countries but it’s pretty clear that the partnership with Cherry Mobile is a litmus test and a taste of things to come. It would be foolish not to try it in other developing countries like India, for example, a market that’s similar to ours, but is much, much bigger.
The deal also opens up the door for more affordable Windows Phone devices, not just from Cherry Mobile but for other local brands as well. Competition is always good, and we’re sure that in the next few months other Windows Phone powered devices from other local brands will pop up as well.
