FollowWhen Microsoft launched the LUMIA 640 and LUMIA 640XL earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress, there was a sense of direction about the company and many were left wondering when the flagship device of this year will be announced.
Now, almost two months later, Microsoft feels it needs to make this quite important concession to the Android users to get them to change sides: put Android apps on Windows phones.
They are hard pressed to do this because the Windows Phone market share is pretty low and doesn’t seem to want to go above 3-4%, whereas all Android phones account for 81% of the market and Apple claims another 15%.
Although this could just be an unfounded rumor, it is true that Microsoft is struggling in the mobile sector and many place this fact on the lack of apps for the Windows Phone OS. Allowing the customers to install Android apps they know and need on a Windows phone device could be a chance to get them to try the Microsoft mobile offerings and maybe win them over for good.
And herein lies the catch, if the users need certain Android apps that are not available for the Windows Phone, why risk the hustle and headaches of a bad implementation when they can have the real thing on an Android device?
The problem in fact is not the insufficient apps but a low interest from developers, and even if an Android app is ported to Windows Phone it would still need optimization, otherwise it will never be on par with the version running under Google’s OS.
Microsoft has tried hard to create an image and a clear identity for their mobile platform but if they cannot get the coders to make new apps or optimize existing apps to work perfectly on the Windows devices, their market share will always be in the single digit range.
This year Microsoft will launch Windows 10, a unified OS for PC, phones and tablets and the company’s gamble is that the idea of software working across all platforms and form factors will bring them the much needed notoriety.
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