mobilecrunch:微软不指望WP7短期内赶超iOS或Android
如果你的产品正在热卖,你肯定会抓住机会自我吹嘘一番;如果滞销了,那你最好还是保持沉默。游戏邦认为,这是一个大家都熟知的基本策略,你越是对产品销量高谈阔论,就越容易赢得市场信心。
那么,微软对自己不遗余力推向市场的Windwos Phone 7手机又有什么看法呢?最近在一场名为“Dive Into Mobile”的大会现场,微软Windows Phone项目管理部门主管乔·贝尔菲奥里(Joe Belfiore)不止一次两次,刻意回避了这个话题。
现场主持人沃尔特·莫斯伯格(Walt Mossberg)首先抛出了一个略为温和的问题:WP7的市场行情如何?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:目前还好。
很显然,这并不是大家期待已久的答案,主持人不得不深度挖掘:WP7手机目前的销量是多少?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:我们不讨论销售数据。
事实上,这种回答无异于“无可奉告”的委婉表达,更不是大家想知道的结果。主持人只好紧追不舍,道出了大家的心声:如果不讨论数据,那你的意思就是说WP7的情况并不太妙喽?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:我认为现在还不到公布数据的时候。
时候未到?听起来有那么点道理。毕竟WP7才刚刚上市2个月而已,苹果可是在74天后才把第一款iPhone销量突破100万的消息公之于众,谷歌更是足足熬了6个月,才宣布第一款Android手机——G1的销量达到100万部。不过这两者都只是比较单一的产品,首轮销售仅限于两三个国家。反观WP7,已经有9款手机支持这种操作系统(如果算上在最后关头发布的Dell Venue Pro手机,支持WP7的手机就有10款),共有30个不同国家的60个运营商都在销售WP7手机。光看这些数据,就已经足够微软大肆宣扬一番了吧?
虽然征服手机市场并非一日之功,但Android刚出道时的市场占有率还不过是iPhone的零头,仅用了两年时间就已经和iPhone势均力敌。看来微软显然不是很有把握WP7究竟能否在几年内赶上其他竞争对手。
主持人还是想从贝尔菲奥里口中撬出什么具体数据,不依不饶地再次发问:请问您认为WP7的市场占有率要赶上Adnroid和Apple,需要多长时间?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:我不知道。
主持人:几个月?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:可能还要更久。
主持人:几年?
乔·贝尔菲奥里:可能吧。
这个世界上除了乔·贝尔菲奥里,相信没有其他人会更清楚WP7手机的销售情况究竟如何,如果连他自己都没什么信心,可见这真不是一个好兆头。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)
Microsoft Doesn’t Expect Windows Phone 7 Sales To Catch Up To iOS or Android Any Time Soon
If your product is selling well, you brag about it. If it isn’t, you don’t. It’s a basic strategy, driven by the idea that talk of heavy sales in turn generates even heavier sales.
It’s a bit telling, then, that Microsoft is doing their damnedest to get around having to shed any light on Windows Phone 7′s sales thus far. In an onstage interview with Walt Mossberg at the Dive Into Mobile conference, Microsoft’s Director of Windows Phone Program Management Joe Belfiore skirted the issue not one, not two, but three times.
The first approach was a softball: How’s the product doing?
“So far, so good..”
Not exactly the answer anyone was looking for, so another one was thrown out: But how many have you sold?
“We’re not talking numbers.”
Uh oh. Essentially a less abrupt way of saying “No Comment”, thats not something anyone wants to hear mid-Interview. So Walt comes out swinging, suggesting the same thing many in the room were thinking: by not talking about numbers, it implies that Windows Phone 7 isn’t doing too hot.
“I don’t think that’s the case here. It’s too soon.”
Too soon? Fair enough. Windows Phone 7 has only been on the market for just shy of 2 months. Apple waited 74 days before talking up their first iPhone for hitting one million sales; Google waited over six months before announcing that the original Android phone, the G1, had accomplished the same thing. But both of these examples are individual devices, launched in just two or three countries off the bat. In contrast, the Windows Phone 7 launch was spread across 9 devices (10, if you count the Dell Venue Pro, which had some last minute delays) on 60 carriers in 30 different countries; surely, there should be something for them to brag about by now?
Success in the mobile market takes time, though; whereas Android barely put a dent in the iPhone’s marketshare at first, it’s neck and neck just two years later. Microsoft, however, doesn’t seem too confident that they’ll be able to catch up even within the next few years. Perhaps trying to irk the numbers out of Belfiore one last time, Mossberg asked: “So.. how long before you’re back into the market… back up to a good marketshare, up there with Android and Apple?”
“I don’t know..”
“Couple months?”
“Longer than that.”
“Couple years?”
“Maybe.”
This is the guy that knows more about how Windows Phone is selling than anyone else in the world; if he’s not out there exuding confidence that his product will be battling for the front of the pack any time soon, it’s not exactly a good sign.(source:mobilecrunch)