Skip to main content

Microsoft’s CEO doesn’t care about Windows Phone’s 3.4 percent market share

Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella doesn’t really care about Windows Phone’s humble market share. Wait, what? How can this be? There’s a very good reason, actually. Nadella spoke to the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce this week, and was asked how the company intended to build the mobile OS into a true contender. In essence, his reply revealed the company is more interested in developing a mobile ecosystem for now, than it is in making Windows Phone a world leader.

According to Geek Wire, Nadella said Microsoft doesn’t think about mobile in terms of market share, or even a range of mobile phones; but about “mobility” instead. He continued, “If there’s anything central about our vision, it’s don’t think of the device at the center, think of the individual, the people at the center.”

Recommended Videos

It’s an important distinction. He went on to talk about pictures, videos, and apps being the only consistent part of modern smartphone ownership. We change phones and often operating systems regularly, but we all want our photos to stay with us, and to continue using the same apps across different platforms. He concluded, “One of the things that you’ll find is Microsoft apps on any phone – irrespective of whether it’s a Windows Phone or not. That’s our core goal.”

Obviously, the more successful Windows Phone is, the more people will use Microsoft mobile apps – from Skype to Office. Therefore, building the OS and its ecosystem is still important, but not at the expense of ignoring those other, more widely used mobile platforms. It’s through them that new Microsoft fans can be poached. It’s not an unfamiliar strategy, and one which Google gleefully adopts with Android. Microsoft’s sensible decision to abandon the Windows Phone license fee shows it’s watching Google’s business model closely.

According to Strategy Analytics most recent data, Windows Phone has a mere 2.7 percent global market share, while ComScore puts the U.S. share at just 3.4 percent. Nadella may not be focused on market share, but we’d imagine those numbers aren’t met with many smiles at Microsoft headquarters.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Instagram takes a page from Spotify’s book to launch Blend for Reels
Instagram on the Samsung Galaxy A54.

Watching a variety of Instagram Reels has never been easier than in a special group chat with friends. Instagram has launched Blend, a new feature that allows you to create custom Reels feeds for you and anyone you invite into a DM group.

The Meta-owned platform announced the rollout of Instagram Blend on Thursday (per TechCrunch), which is inspired by a Spotify playlist of the same name called Spotify Blend that mixes your music tastes with those of the person you invite into that playlist (assuming they have Spotify at all), and the songs refresh daily. With Instagram Blend, you can create a Reels feed in a one-on-one DM with another person or in a group chat with friends or family.

Read more
I tested the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e’s cameras, and the two almost tied
A person holding the Google Pixel 9a and Apple iPhone 16e.

The Google Pixel 9a’s arch rival, almost regardless of whether you are trying to decide which one to buy, is the Apple iPhone 16e. Just like dogs chase cats, a new Pixel phone will go up against an iPhone in a camera test at some point, and over the past week or so, we’ve worked to answer the question of which phone takes better photos, the Pixel 9a or the iPhone 16e.
The camera specs
Google Pixel 9a (left) and Apple iPhone 16e Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The two phones have very different camera systems. The Google Pixel 9a has a 48-megapixel main camera with an f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS), plus a 13MP wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree field of view. On the front is a 13MP selfie camera.

Read more
After delays, the Google Pixel 9a is finally available to buy: These are the best deals
A video playing on the Google Pixel 9a.

After a lot of waiting, delays, and hype for the Google Pixel 9a, there's no shame if your hype died down a bit. But now it's here, and we've reviewed the Pixel 9a as "a brilliant phone to buy" and even find picking between the Pixel 9a and regular Pixel 9 a "close call." The Google Pixel 9a retails for $499, and you can see it in the store for yourself by tapping the button below. But there are a lot of offers going on that you need to know about before making your purchasing decision to ensure you get the best deal. Here, we're going to detail all of Google's offers on the phone so you can get the best deal for your unique situation.

What Google Pixel 9a deal is best for you?
Depending on what you have and what you want, there is a different Google Pixel 9a deal out there for you:

Read more