Bonum Certa Men Certa

Billions in Marketing Can't Help Microsoft Sell Hardware

Microhard



Summary: Despite spendings of close to a billion dollars in just marketing of Vista Phony 7 [sic] and KINect, Microsoft cannot really sell those gadgets in sufficient quantities

MICROSOFT IS BECOMING a successful incubator of patent trolls while its software business is declining (Microsoft fakes reports to hide problems including debt) and its attempts to reinvent itself on the Web cost around $3 billion in losses every single year.



Another area where Microsoft was never truly successful is hardware. Microsoft tried to sell its phone called the "KIN" and it was a disaster of unprecedented proportions. Then, Microsoft tried throwing an advertising budget at the problem, just heavily marketing Vista Phony 7 [sic]. We're looking at the expense of about half a billion dollars. That's an insane amount to spend on deceiving the public, almost like spending $1.5 for each US citizen to become aware of a platform with 0.00% market share. Some say that "KIN" is still around, not just in its Vista Phony 7 [sic] incarnation (the story of both shows a similar trajectory). As OpenBytes put it two days ago:

People often say when talking about Microsoft products “same old, same old” is there really anything new happening with WP7 and is it any surprise that its rumored to have only sold around 40,000 units? You decide.

For me Microsoft and its “mobile solutions” won’t be fooling me again and Im already on record saying that I believe WP7 will flop.


"Embarrassed to recommend Microsoft software" is the title of this new post which helps explain Microsoft's status crisis. Its brand suffers a lot after products like "KIN" and Vista Phony 7 [sic] will do it no favours.

In summary, I'm not impressed at all with offline files. Especially when I compare it to solutions like rsync in Linux, which works perfectly every time, and works very very well. Why can't Microsoft learn from previous mistakes, and fix their software? It's embarrasing to recommend these products and sell the idea of using Microsoft software to somebody, when it will work for a while then break all of a sudden out of the blue. I should have learned, that it's OK to recommend Microsoft software if absolutely necessary, but I no longer guarantee that it will work as designed.


Here is another take on Vista Phony 7 [sic], which starts receiving some bad press now that the huge marketing budget (means of softly bribing journalists/publications via PR agencies) dries up.

Microsoft released Windows Phone 7 in the US market recently. Despite massive advertising budget thrown at the new operating system release, there was no great over night, iPhone-like queue snaking around the block, which the Microsoft management so desperately needed.

The hyped release failed to generate the required buzz and the turnout wasn’t so flash. Add to this, there have been some decidedly unenthusiastic reviews for the devices in publications.


Techrights was apparently correct when predicting that Vista Phony 7 [sic] would fail just like "KIN" (although unlike "KIN", Vista Phony 7 [sic] is just the platform, which is based on a dying project, Silverlight), but the huge Vista Phony 7 [sic] marketing expenses should assure more sales, not to mention giveaways to staff. It's a short-term boost.

Another hardware product which is not doing so well so far is KINect. We'll explain why the short-term boost is disappointing.

First of all, our reader Will shares this story about prerequisites which Microsoft understates. The devices is unsuitable for many homes and there have been reports of people breaking their belongings due to KINect.

Xbox Japan's Kinect displays have 0.9 meter (2.9 feet) paper measure for gamers to take home and suss out their gaming quarters. 2.9 feet? Kinect needs around 8 feet to hit the sweetspot of certain games.


"I found this link kinda funny," wrote Will in IRC. "The gist of my article is that Japanese Kinect displays have a paper tape measure to help people determine if they have enough space in their homes for the Kinect to work properly. The catch is, the paper measure is only 2.9 feet long, but the Kinect reportedly requires at least 8 feet."

“The gist of my article is that Japanese Kinect displays have a paper tape measure to help people determine if they have enough space in their homes for the Kinect to work properly. The catch is, the paper measure is only 2.9 feet long, but the Kinect reportedly requires at least 8 feet.”
      --Will
Personally, I have not been keeping up to date with KINect for about a month (TechBytes takes up a lot of time), but the number of sales quoted by Will helped me deduce that it's failing to sell well. It's only a month away from Christmas and a very small proportion of Xbox 360 owners bought a KINect in the first week and a half. Only 2-3% of people who bought Xbox 360 bothered getting such an overprices remote in the first 10 days after a massive marketing campaign estimated to have cost close to half a billion dollars. It's the type of product which Nintendo just gives away with its console (although it's not exactly the same type of peripheral).

People would be wise to avoid KINect for other reasons, for instance the spy factor which we wrote about some days ago. "Big Xbox is watching you" is a new article worth reading:

But if your hardware has facial recognition, then it could in theory recognize not just faces, but facial expressions. Imagine a world where your TV watches your face to see how you respond emotionally to the content it's showing you. And reports on it.


Microsoft only pretends to respect people's privacy [1, 2, 3]. It's one of the most intrusive companies, usually for marketing reasons. Nintendo has only little or no interest at all in such personal data.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

[Video] Leaving Microsoft Behind for the Sake of National Security
Threats to "National Security" aren't some users with an Android phone but Microsoft at the root of things
 
Microsoft Layoffs and Closures Now Reported in Africa
Microsoft Uninstalls Nigeria as it closes African Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos
Links 08/05/2024: Android Malware and "AI" Hype
Links for the day
[Meme] Technical Committee With People Who Are Not Technical
the computing/computer industry being occupied by people who lack suitable background
The Demise of Computer Science Education
Education is essential for the future; without it, whole nations will perish
[Video] Prisons for the Minds and for Tech Workers
Today's video talks about what happens to workforces (across disciplines) in recent years
[Meme] Struggling to Leave Its Nazi Past Behind
digital arson
Microsoft Declines to Talk About How Many People It Has Just Laid Off
Hours ago in IGN: "Microsoft did not say how many staff will lose their jobs, but significant layoffs are inevitable. IGN has asked Bethesda for comment. Microsoft declined to expand further when contacted by IGN."
Microsoft Windows in South America: From 99% to 87%
the latest from statCounter
It's Rather Obvious Why They Try to Silence Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen, and Daniel Pocock
Some of them already sent physically menacing messages to Daniel Pocock
IRC Network of Techrights Turns 3 (or 16 if We Count the Freenode Days)
In a few months IRC turns 36
Sedating Oneself (and Shareholders) With Fuzzy Buzzwords and Pointless Acquisitions
IBM trying to buy time
Clickfraud Spamnil Ran Out of Clickfraud Budget, Apparently
sooner or later charlatans and frauds run out of steam
Techrights Gets Under the Skin of Bad, Corrupt, Immoral People (That's a Good Thing)
Journalism is the lifeblood of democracy and free societies
Companies Do Not Shut Down Offices and Lay Off Staff en Masse (Morale and Reputation Issue) Unless They're in Deep Financial Trouble
Microsoft has been faking its financial performance for years
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 07, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 07, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
GNU/Linux and ChromeOS Now at 6% in France, According to statCounter
numbers from statCounter
Gemini Links 07/05/2024: Music Spotlight and Network Knobs
Links for the day
Only Weeks After Microsoft Closed Offices and Studios It is Closing Several More (Many Layoffs, Still Deeply Debt-Saddled)
When the sad news writes itself
Bolivarian Republic Of Venezuela: GNU/Linux Reaches 9% (ChromeOS Included)
Venezuela must have lost interest in some American proprietary software when users were locked out of their own data (Adobe) and the costs could no longer be justified
[Video] Microsoft is Like Big Oil, Big Tobacco, and Other Perpetrators of Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering
openwashing, Microsoft lobbying, and Microsoft subsidies (e.g. bailouts in the form of 'defence' contracts)
Security & Debian: Urgent: New Feed URLs after another WIPO censorship
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
World Press Freedom Day: WIPO censors Debian suicide cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 07/05/2024: Smashing Windows (Moving to GNU/Linux) and Mastodon Time-wasting
Links for the day
Links 07/05/2024: Pulitzer for Supreme Court Expose, New Threats to Media Reported
Links for the day
Links 07/05/2024: Cheap EVs and Cloudflare Layoffs
Links for the day
Berlin police declined to investigate FSFE Nazi comparisons
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] Communities Governed by Parasitic Elements and Girlfriends (Who Can't Understand Those Communities)
Karen Sandler and Molly de Blanc present at DebConf18
[Meme] You Can't Kill an Idea (or Facts)
Thankfully, in Western societies, there's still due process, rule of law etc. You don't just hire assassins or imprison critics
[Meme] Software in the Public Interest (SPI), Inc, Values Articles of Daniel Pocock at ~$5,000 Each (and Fails to Hide the Facts)
we are laughing, not grieving
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 06, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, May 06, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
[Meme] About 2,564 Internet Sites Now at Risk of Hostile Takeover by Microsoft-Sponsored Software in the Public Interest (SPI)
WIPO censors Debian suicide cluster
Links 07/05/2024: Burning Plastic Waste, Facebook Censoring Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/05/2024: Smashing Windows (Microsoft Losing Users to GNU/Linux), Sixty Years of BASIC
Links for the day
Southern Asia is All Android (Majority) Now
It's looking better (almost) every month
Windows Already Down to 1% "Market Share" in Some Countries
it is a dying breed
Tesla Has Become a Ponzi Scheme or a 'Meme Stock'
They tell us Tesla is "worth" almost twice as much as a company that sold about 30 times more cars
For People at Red Hat "Job is at Risk"
Red Hat is consulting some notorious firms to implement cuts
Linux.com Became Mostly Dead, de Facto Marketing Site of "Linux" Foundation Products (Unrelated to Linux)
what has happened to the authoritative domain Linux.com
Microsoft GitHub: A Hair Salon Where You Get Awards for Nothing (NFT Vanity)
People aren't defined by some private (proprietary) database and Microsoft does not universally "score" developers
In Europe, Android is Bigger Than Windows (Android Now Measured at 45.1% Worldwide)
Right now in statCounter...
Links 06/05/2024: Al Jazeera Raided, Wildfire Season Coming
Links for the day
On Character Assassination Tactics
The people who leverage these dirty politics typically champion projection tactics
Links 06/05/2024: Scams and Politics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/05/2024: Reading and Computers
Links for the day
United States Entering the $100 Trillion Debt Trap, We Compare GAFAM Debt
Google's debt is about 6 times less than Amazon's
GitLab's Losses Grew From $172,311,000 to $424,174,000 Per Annum
Letting this company have control over your (or your company's) development/code forge may cost you a lot in the future
statCounter's Latest: Android Bouncing to New All-Time Highs, Windows Down to Unprecedented Lows
Android rising
Can't Bear the Thought We're Happy and Productive
If someone is now harassing online friends, attacking the wife, attacking my family (not just attacking and defaming people I know online) there are legal ramifications
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 05, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, May 05, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Erinn Clark & Debian: Justice or another Open Source vendetta?
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work