Windows Phone 7's Problem: Look at the Palm Pre

Summer 2009. The Palm Pre was released to the public. The Palm Pre was going to be the iPhone Killer. The Palm Pre was going to turn Palm around.

Palm Pre - Released Summer 2009

Instead, the Palm Pre turned into one of the more intriguing tech disasters in years, leading to Palm's fire sale to HP. Tech pundits placed its failure on Palm's exclusive agreement with Sprint (a network still known for those chirping walkie-talkie phones). Others pointed to Palm Pre's lack of apps.  The comparison was even made between the Palm Pre and a kitchen utensil able to chop cheese (ouch).  

All of those reasons are plausible, but there was a deeper issue at play. 

The Palm Pre failed because the Palm brand was weak, beaten down after years of mockery and jokes. People didn't give the phone any chance and simply moved to Apple and Android. While Palm was well known for its handheld pocket organizers and other innovative products, the company had run into a rough patch for the few years leading up to the Palm Pre.  WebOS was reviewed as a worthy competitor to iOS and a product full of potential. No one took the bait. 

Fall 2010.  The Windows Phone 7 line-up was released to the public. 

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introducing
the Windows 7 Phone line-up. October 2010. 

The Windows Phone 7 platform failed because the Windows brand was weak, beaten down with years of mockery and jokes. People didn't give the phones any chance and simply moved to Apple and Android. While Windows was well know for its older operating systems and productivity software, the company had run into a rough patch for the few years leading up to Windows Phone 7.  The Windows Phone 7 UI was reviewed as a worthy competitor to iOS and a product full of potential. No one took the bait.

Now maybe I am being a bit premature, but you get my point.  Microsoft's (and Windows') brand has been destroyed to such a level that many people will not bother getting reacquainted with the company and its products, regardless of how good the features may be.  Few tech pundits are calling for this type of platform failure (especially only after one week of sales). 

Will Any Windows Phone 7 Units Sell?

The loyal Microsoft base will love these phones, but people with no preference will most likely head to the Apple Store or the slew of Android phones, keeping Microsoft to a market share of less than 5%-10%. 

Could I be wrong?  Unlike Palm, Microsoft has one big weapon to keep their battle going. Cash.  Tons of cash.  Palm had basically run of cash leaving it unable to advertise the Palm Pre (remember those ads with the creepy young woman?) and put money into quick software and hardware turnarounds. Meanwhile with heaps of cash, Microsoft is still supporting the failure known as Zune.

Speaking of the Zune, I think Windows Phone 7 will turn into the Zune of mobile phones: Always around, but hardly anywhere. 

Stay Tuned....

(I plan on spending some time with a Windows 7 Phone in the near feature and will post reactions).

Disagree with my statements...discuss in comments.