What Microsoft Can Learn From Android's Mistakes

Guest post by Andreas Bernstrom

Andreas Bernstrom is CEO of Rebtel, the second-largest mobile voice over IP telephony company.

Andreas Bernstrom: Windows Phone can win.

Since the launch of the Google’s Android OS in 2007, the choice for the majority of smartphone users eager to get their hands on ‘the next best thing’ has rested between two high-profile competitors: Google and Apple.

But a familiar contender is looming in the shadows, and I believe its success has yet to be fully realized.

While Microsoft‘s Windows Phone 7 still lags far behind the user numbers boasted by Android and iPhone, the fight for smartphone supremacy is still in the early rounds. Driven by the positive reception of newly introduced Windows Phone 7.5., and a Windows 8 release slated for 2012, some firms, such as IDC, predict that Windows-based smartphones will account for 20 percent of the market by 2015.

While success of this magnitude is no guarantee, Microsoft has a golden opportunity if it can learn from some key mistakes made by Android:

Avoid Fragmentation

Google has yet to consolidate all three versions of its OS, leaving them dispersed in the marketplace with no real direction.

According to the latest Android OS distribution chart, 50 percent of devices are running Android 2.3 “Gingerbread”, while 35 percent are still  running Android 2.2 “Froyo”.  Android 2.1 “Eclair”, which came out almost two years ago, still has a substantial share of the market with 9.6 percent. This is a bi-product of Google’s “hands-off” approach, which ironically was made famous by Microsoft and the company’s strategy with Windows.

Further down the line, this will prove to be a huge blow to the Android ecosystem. The Android Market allows developers to target devices based on any OS, so right off the bat, some users are going to be unable to access certain apps because their devices lack the necessary software APIs.

Two notable examples that have fallen victim to this are Netflix and Hulu Plus, which are both services that appeal to large portions of the user base. When the apps were first introduced, they were only compatible with 5 devices. Even after several months on the Android Market, Hulu Plus remains accessible on only 11 devices. Netflix is supported on nearly 24, but that’s still only a fraction of the number of Android phones that are already in consumers’ hands.

If Microsoft wants to reach critical mass, it should avoid Android’s free-for-all strategy, and make a conscious effort to avoid fragmentation that leaves its users in the dark.

Microsoft has already demonstrated an effort to refrain from fragmentation. Almost every WP7 device was updated to Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango,” when it was released in May 2011.

Inconsistent user interfaces lead to unhappy developers (and users)

Not only has the Android OS been chopped into various different pieces, but these pieces all look different, as manufacturers have shipped their Android devices with custom interface themes. This has been detrimental to the overall Android user experience.

Despite cornering half the smartphone market, inconsistency in design is having an adverse effect on the speed in which software updates can be processed on Androids. As a result, frustration has poured in from developers who have had to juggle with variety of complex platforms and interfaces.

Google recently addressed this problem by introducing its new interface theme, Holo, which Google claims will appease frustrations provoked by its open interfaces.  Originally, Google provided no specific theme that manufacturers (or OEMs) were forced to include in their devices, making for an inconsistent flow of visual design principles across the Android App Market.

Holo won’t roll out until the launch of Android 4.0 (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich), but it’s a good start, as it allows for developers to create apps for the default Ice Cream Sandwich environment without having to lose sleep over an OEM’s custom skin destroying their designs.

Microsoft would be smart to follow a more consistent design approach than Google has demonstrated, allowing for easier and faster development and deployment, as well as a consistent user experience across the OS and third-party apps.

Pest Control

Malware attacks have plagued Android since inception.

Android’s bug infestation grew worse in 2011, with countless malware-plagued apps removed by Google throughout the year. Security company McAfee released a report last November stating that in Q3 2011, Android experienced a 37 percent increase in the number of apps of a malicious nature hiding out in its digital marketplace.

Microsoft was quick to make a move last December that capitalized on Android’s malware disaster by offering free Windows Phones to five Android users with the worst malware horror stories.

It was a smart PR move, but Microsoft will need to continue to set itself apart by enforcing an approval process similar to that of Apple’s for all new app submissions.

Having tighter control of malware issues should give Microsoft the ability to govern the user experience on a higher level, and (from a long term standpoint) reap the benefits of improved consumer confidence.

Take control of the manufacturer ecosystem and improve the customer experience

Android devices tend to feel sluggish and unresponsive compared to iOS devices. This is another example of how Google’s “hands-off” approach has come back to haunt them.

Google adopted Microsoft’s old strategy of providing an OS and letting handset makers and carriers do what they like with it. Microsoft spent the ’90s sending out its brainchildren into the ecosystem to thrive and grow in any available environment. But that was back when “environments” were limited.

Microsoft, in wisely reworking its mobile strategy, has borrowed a lot more from Apple. Its new approach is more restrictive, and handset makers must adhere to strict hardware specifications if they want to make devices that run Windows Phone 7. Unlike Android, which currently has hundreds of devices on the market, WP7’s restrictions for handset makers has kept its device count down to 20.

Commitment to a stellar user experience, especially as it relates to controls and responsiveness, are two variables that have contributed immensely to Apple’s success with the iPhone, and can potentially do the same for Windows.

As a company who can lay claim to some of the “smartest” innovations of the computer age, Microsoft has taken some unusually hard hits from the competition in recent years. But taking a page from Android’s mistake book may just turn out to be Microsoft’s recipe for smartphone success in 2012 and beyond.