VZ’s #2 Exec Slams Windows Phone 7 And Microsoft As Irrelevant
Cnet interviewed VZ’s #2 executive, Lowell McAdam. What did he have to say about Windows Phone 7? Here it is, verbatim:
What about Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 phones? Microsoft is launching new Windows Mobile 7 phones next week on AT&T’s network. Will Verizon offer some new Windows Mobile 7 devices on the LTE network?
McAdam: I can’t really say which phones we’ll offer yet. We like our relationship with Microsoft. But clearly in the U.S. there are three major mobile operating systems: RIM, Google, and Apple.
So you don’t view Microsoft as a major player in mobile anymore?
McAdam: No not at the moment. Microsoft is not at the forefront of our mind.
Does this have anything to do with the short-lived Microsoft Kin? That was kind of a mess. (Editor’s note: The Kin was a "social media" phone that was only on the market for less than two months earlier this year before Microsoft pulled it and halted development in lieu of Windows Mobile 7. It was offered exclusively on Verizon Wireless.)
McAdam: This really goes back to what I said earlier about how innovation in wireless devices and applications is moving so quickly. Our device suppliers have to demonstrate to us that they will be developing leading edge products. And if they are not leading edge, then we can’t afford to carry them in our stores. But if they are innovative, we’ll offer them.
All I can say is Wow…And now the AT&T premier partnership thing makes a lot more sense…
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This is either politics or stupidity.
@The Fight: No, he means exactly what he says.
Verizon is happy to carry no Microsoft phones.
Verizon likes its current relationship with Microsoft.
So they’re not only extending the middle finger of human kindness to Redmond – they are smug about it.
Wow, that’s pretty damn harsh.
I have to read the full article to grasp the context of what he was saying but if it’s as cut and dry as it appears to be, whoa.
*putting down the fanboy hat*
Small side observation:
How do you say something like:
“We like our relationship with Microsoft.”
then go on to say:
“Microsoft is not at the forefront of our mind”
Does anyone else think that this is a little disjointed?
I actually have no problem with what he said. At the moment Microsoft is not a major player in the mobile market. Its not even released yet! As Android has helped to fuel the growth of their smartphone sales they are wise to keep their eye on the prize. RIM is moving alot of units but check the customer satisfaction rating and they are way down. He’s speaking relative to Verizon’s market position but clearly fails to consider the whole “buy one get another free” thing downgrading his favorite brands (Android and Blackberry) to discount brand status.
This guy is such a dickhead. So, Verizon don’t see Microsoft has a major player in mobile anymore? So I guess WP7 it just a figment of all our imaginations, right. The arrogance is mind blowing. This is the same company that passed on the Motorola Razr and the iPhone and see how that worked out for them. We will see in the next few months when WP7 starts taking all comers, then Verizon will have no choice but to go cap in hand to Microsoft begging for a CDMA WP7 phone.
@smoothcrooner
What are you, five years old? You’re insulting McAdam because he is expressing an opinion about a company’s products? Grow up, please.
Either you never became acquainted with the concept of “maturity,” or you are a Microsoft employee, or a fanboy who is overly zealous in his defense of Microsoft. Microsoft has plenty of PR and advertising dollars to spend — you don’t need to do their job for them…
Greetings from the future!
smoothcrooner: No, Verizon don’t see Microsoft as a major player in mobile anymore (though I’m not sure they ever were seen that way, the smartphone itself perhaps wasn’t seen with seriousness until the iPhone) and to your second question, yeah, turns out a year later to be the same flop it was the day you posted your comment.
As for the arrogance, I think you’re confusing a man’s read on the situation which rubs your self esteem the wrong way for whatever reason with arrogance, because to me it looks like he’s being asked questions and answering them. The smugness Ike picked up, while funny and clever, was, I’m guessing, inadvertent.
As for seeing how things worked out for Verizon, they’re working out quite well — they’re the biggest wireless carrier (in addition to their other operations), they’ve got the best network (hey, even got LTE), got a lot of phones (including the iPhone), they even got a Windows Phone phone (don’t ask me how well it’s selling, because I’d just offer you what you’d see as “arrogance”). On top of that, they’re not being sued by the government (or at least they’re not making headlines about it) to stop a major acquisition they thought they had in the bag and are committed to doubling down with legal and political money as far as they can until it’s too obvious that they have to hand over billions to T-Mobile and look stupid. But they do have more Windows Phone phones than Verizon, and though they now have the worst JDPower ratings for this and that and the other thing, they got all those Windows Phones, sky’s the limit bro.
Verizon CEO is saying what I and other smartphone users have been saying: To paraphrase, “When MS has a product that is accepted by the masses and prove they will support that product like other mobile OS do (and unlike how they’ve supported Windows Mobile & MS Kin) we will invest more in that product.”
MS has a long way to go and Verizon is not going to waste resources on this lab rat project. As a consumer, knowing you are buying a product that’s future is questionable, it is more expensive to own vs. other mobile OS (have to pay for most, if not all apps), and the lack of apps, is not a wise choice when you have better options.
WP7 owners may like their phones and when compared to other smartphones it maybe ok, but that does not mean a successful product in the future. Look at the Zune. It is better than an IPOD but with the lack of apps and the general public support, it is a piece of crap that’s been out for a long time with none to little rewards or sales.
Good luck with all of that crap.