Part V: Windows Phone Takes its First Steps
As work continued on Windows Phone, the OS was starting to become increasingly polished and refined. However, the live tile UI was increasingly becoming very different from the traditional desktop UI. Due to this, some in Microsoft looked askance at the new platform, arguing that it was too much of a departure. Ballmer, however, defended Allard’s design by pointing out that the new mobile world of technology would require different interfaces than those used by the desktop.
Soon, Windows Phone 7 was almost done, but the work of finding a company that would sell WP7 would need to be done. At this point, AT&T was the exclusive seller of the iPhone, a position which had brought it millions of dollars in revenue as users wanted a piece of the new phone. This meant, however, that Verizon, AT&T’s largest competitor, didn’t have a smartphone platform that they could use to entice buyers. Microsoft saw an opportunity to establish Windows as a mobile platform with the help of Verizon.
In late 2007, Steve Ballmer contacted Verizon’s CEO, Ivan G. Seidenberg, to discuss Verizon adopting Windows Phone 7 as its smartphone platform. Seidenberg was slightly wary of Windows Phone, as Windows Mobile had been increasingly losing to the iPhone. Ballmer realized Seidenberg’s skepticism, however, and took him to the labs at Microsoft were WP7 was being developed.
Ivan G. Seidenberg, Verizon's CEO from 2002 to 2011.
There, Seidenberg saw the work invested in the platform and saw how well-designed and sleek the platform was. Ballmer and Allard stated that “the future of Microsoft rests in the hands of Windows Phone 7” and by the end of his visit, Seidenberg believed them. As he prepared to leave, he decided to enter into Ballmer’s office.
At that moment, both men sat down to discuss WP7. Seidenberg confided to Ballmer that he had been invited to meet with several Google representatives who attempted to sell him on Android, but that he felt that Android was not as refined or as ready for market consumption as he would have liked. Windows Phone 7, on the other hand, seemed far better for market consumption, but he was reluctant to see a phone platform that would take such a long time to meet release.
Microsoft’s own estimates proposed that Windows Phone 7 would meet release around mid-2009. This was not good enough for Seidenberg, who was pressed for time, and who wanted a platform from Microsoft right then and there. Seidenberg wanted WP7 to be ready by mid-2008 at the latest. Ballmer looked at him slightly askance but promised Seidenberg that he would talk to the WP7 development team to see if they could speed up the release of the new platform.
Shortly after, Seidenberg left Microsoft’s headquarters.
In the meantime, Ballmer went to Allard and told him and his team that they needed Windows Phone 7 to be released by June 2008. Allard protested, and said that the platform wouldn’t be as feature-rich as he had intended it to be. Ballmer, however, argued that features weren’t everything. He pointed the example of the iPhone, which though lacking in many features common to mobile phone platforms of the time, had a superior design and ecosystem that made it appeal to large cross-sections of the population. Ballmer felt that WP7, with its unique live tile design, would be able to develop a design as unique and well-known as Apple’s designs.
Allard, though somewhat unconvinced, agreed to work towards completing the release of the device. Some features, such as copy and paste, were not included in the initial release, but nonetheless, the phone was still quite smooth, polished, and well-designed.
By February 2008, Allard’s team had developed a prototype phone running Windows Phone 7. At this point, Ballmer invited Seidenberg to see the new phone. Reportedly, Seidenberg was very impressed and agreed to sign a contract. Under the contract, Verizon would be the exclusive seller of WP7 smartphones for a three-year period in the United States. With the contract signed, WP7 moved from something which had been in the testing stages to something which would actually hit the consumer market. Microsoft, however, had a problem on its hands. It had earlier committed itself to maintaining Windows Mobile as a platform but now needed to get OEMs to build WP7 phones.
Therefore, Microsoft sent its WP7 representatives to several large OEMs, such as Samsung, Asus, Acer, and Lenovo, to try and convince them to produce WP7 phones. These representatives were met with some resistance from these companies. After all, Windows Mobile had sold relatively well, and developing WP7 phones would be risky.
Microsoft knew that they couldn’t just force the OEMs to immediately switch, and so made a deal. These OEMs would be allowed to continue to produce Windows Mobile phones, but in exchange, they would each have to produce WP7 phones as well in order to continue producing the Windows Mobile phones.
The companies were aghast, but didn’t have many other options, and so agreed to get on board with Microsoft’s proposal. Now that Microsoft had OEMs making WP7 phones, and a carrier ready to distribute the phones, Microsoft felt confident that WP7 would shock the world of technology. Microsoft also created its own WP7 phone, which would be a showcase of what the platform could do, and the phone clearly showed Microsoft’s prowess in designing hardware, something which Microsoft had traditionally not done.
Ballmer was joyous at the release of this new phone and platform and had an event hosted at the famous Lincoln Center in Manhattan, New York on May 21, 2008. At the event, Microsoft announced the release of WP7. Tech reviewers were shocked at the beautiful WP7 platform and argued that Microsoft, at last, had a viable, relevant platform and that Microsoft could come to dominate mobile. The phone’s hardware was also the subject of plaudits from many in the tech industry.
Windows Phone 7's design received rave reviews from many technology observers, who hailed it as a major improvement over Windows Mobile.
At the end of the conference, Ballmer announced that the Microsoft Kin, as the WP7-powered phone was known, would go on sale on July 1, 2008. At that same time, Samsung and Acer announced that they would also release phones of their own that same day.
Other OEMs, such as HP, Dell, and Toshiba expressed interest in releasing their own phones shortly before the conference and were listed as possible OEM partners for WP7. Immediately after this, Microsoft began a publicity campaign to try and convince users to purchase WP7. The goal was to make WP7 into a platform which would become as strong as iPhone OS, and which would, in due time, surpass Windows Mobile.
Windows Phone 7’s time had come.