Microsoft may not be a major player in the smartphone retail market, but it still has a seat to rank at the table thanks to "Windows 10 Cross-Format" ability to run on smartphones as well as laptops and desktops. It means it can still contribute to the ongoing debate around standards and expectations in the mobile world.
"Manufacturers looking to release Windows 10 powered smartphones have to follow the minimum hardware requirements set by Microsoft, and in those specifications lays a tiny little detail that many consumers have a strong opinion on," as stated by Agam Shah of the ComputerWorld.
Apple's Phil Schiller famously called out the removal of the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 as a courageous move. That decision continues to split opinion in the smartphone world. While the stop-gap option of using "Apple's Lightning" to 3.5 mm dongle packaged with the smartphone feels like negating much of the courage required. Apple is gambling that a move towards either Bluetooth- or lightning-enabled headphones over the next few years will prove beneficial to consumers.
Apple's significant share of the smartphone market gives it the power to make decisions like this, safe in the knowledge that any pushback from some consumers is mitigated by the avalanche of popularity built in to the iPhone brand. "Windows 10" does not have the volume of smartphone sales that could insulate it from similarly risky choices.
Although Apple has opened the way to a jack less world, as 2016 draws to a close "Microsoft" is not in a position to challenge user expectations in the mobile space with Windows 10. In time Microsoft will focus on the smartphone platform with corporate glee but until that moment it's going to look to deliver what the customer wants just now, not what it wants customers to expect twelve months down the line.
