Been a while since I really posted my musings about certain issues, so here is one.

In the mobile operating space, there are two major players, with Googles Android operating system taking about 76.6% of the market share and Apple's iOS taking almost all the rest. Microsoft hopes to become a major player and to me, up till this present moment, aren’t doing anything to achieve that objective.

If I were in charge of Windows Phone proliferation at Microsoft, here is what I would do:

1. Make windows phone OS free, not necessarily open, but it would be usable by any manufacturer without paying licensing fees. (Microsoft has already done this).

2. In order to become a serious mobile space player, you have to draw people who are just switching to a smartphone for the first time, (this removes the issue of unavailability of some apps on their platform). They would achieve this by making their devices dirt cheap like entry-level android phones. (1) above sets them on the road to achieving (2).

3. To get (2) you have to observe what happens in the developing countries market space, and what obtains there. For now, Mediatek is the company manufacturing the chipset for the masses, it would be in Microsofts’ best interests to align themselves with Mediatek.

4. Microsoft has to play to strength, in that its operating system works smoothly on even the most meagre of hardware because of its minimalist design principles.

5. As soon as Microsoft succeeds in capturing a sizable share of the lower end market, an app surge would follow, because developers would want users to have their apps.

6. When the lower end is captured, then flagships using the latest silicon should be offered on every manufacturer and cellular carrier, this would endear them to the premium users and the higher profit end of the market.

This is just my two cents worth of advice to Microsoft. Have a nice weekend.