Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS

ByPrasanna S | PGP30330

Brand Extension of Window OS

Category Extension: Leveraging on strong “Windows” Brand

• World leader in operating system for PCs• Windows runs in 90 % of the PCs and

Desktops in the world

Windows Brand

• Microsoft’s revenue is $ 87 billion• Most successful version of Windows is

Windows XP, which has a market share of 30 % even after stopping the support for the product.

Smartphone Details

• Market Size of Smartphone = $ 170 billion (worldwide)

• Growth of Smartphones is at 16 % CAGR for 2015-2020, with current global smartphone shipments growing at 35 % Y-o-Y

• Market Share of the Brand = 2 %

• Growth of the Brand has been slow. The brand lost its market share from 4% to current 3.2 %

Product• Microsoft 1st announced Windows Phone 7 Platform

in Mobile World Congress 15th Feb 2010 and the 1st mobile was release in 21st Oct 2010

• The OS designed with a view that “End user is the King” and was awarded “International Design Excellence award (IDEA) 2011 Gold Award”

Product Features User Interface – Metro UI Office Support from Microsoft Games with XBOX sync Contacts with multiple social network sync But lacked bluetooth and tethering features

Price• The initial phones were all tied up with

operators like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc to be offered via contract• 10 Initial models were launched in Oct 2010

from OEM viz. HTC, LG, Samsung, Dell

• Dell launched their Venue Pro in India 3rd Feb 2011 with Rs. 34,990

• HTC Surround was priced at $200 with contract of AT&T and unlocked version with $599

• In general the windows phones were perceived as costly for the features the had

• This is because of the proprietary nature in which Microsoft provided the OS to mobile makers

Place• Windows Phones

were released 30 Countries; In EU and Asia 21st Oct 2010 and 8th Nov 2010 in US markets• Mobile makers

partnered with various retailers across the globe to sell Windows Phone

Promotion

• Billboards were placed at crucial places and conferences to spur talks about the Windows Phones• Film stars viz. SRK (in India) and Jessica

Alba (worldwide) were roped in to promote the brand• Sudden slashes in prices were tried to

boost sales

Segmentation & Targeting

Demography

• Income: Above middle income class

• Age: Anyone eligible to own a phone

Psychographic

• People who want “Live” their life, rather than using a mobile

Behavioural

• People who have used Smartphones and are looking for a change

• People who use feature phones

Positioning - 1• Points of Parity – POP

• Smartphone features like touch screen, multitasking, apps, etc.

• 2G, 3G capabilities• Solid mobile built

• Points of Difference – POD• Different OS design• Two touch to anything

feature

Comparative Frame of Reference

Positioning - 2

The positioning message that was conveyed was

“Be Here Now”“Reinvented

Around You”“A phone each one

of you”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdpQir1sqiQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-U4Yr9UNBo

References http://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-microsoft/ http://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-global-windows-phone-strategy,28697.html http://www.marketing91.com/8-marketing-strategy-lessons-from-microsoft/ http://www.slideshare.net/psantoshkumar/marketing-plan-to-launch-windows-7-final https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phone_7 http://www.techcentral.co.za/mobile-world-congress-2010-day-one-overview/12826/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/11/microsoft-announces-ten-windows-phone-7-handsets-for-30-countrie/ http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-unveils-windows-phone-7/10053.html http://www.mobiclue.com/htc-surround-price-and-specifications.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Venue_Pro http://www.quora.com/Who-are-the-target-users-for-Windows-Phone-7 http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1264589

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