In a recent event, the President of Microsoft’s Windows Phone Division, Andrew Lees, was quoted saying that the company wants to offer Windows Phone 7 powered handsets for around $100 to $150 dollars. In fact, Microsoft wants to attract customers with low cost handsets, but lure them into buying more expensive apps.
“If you look even at the price of smartphones, a year ago all smartphones cost over $400 when they left their hardware manufacturer. Today, they’re down to about $200, and next year, a smartphone that can run something like Windows Phone 7 will actually be down to $100 to $150,” Lees stated.
Microsoft is looking to offer Windows Phone apps that are more expensive than the traditional $1 or $2 app that you can find in the iTunes App Store or the Android Market. Microsoft wants to take in more profit by luring Windows Phone handset users into purchasing expensive apps.
Microsoft is pulling out all stops to ensure its Windows Phone division does not fail. CEO Steve Ballmer recently admitted that the platform was struggling to gain traction. “We know we’ve got a lot to do, but like the cloud, like NT many years back, we’re all in when it comes to mobile devices. And whether it’s phones, or slates, or PCs, or console devices, we’re certainly pushing extremely far, and extremely fast,” Ballmer argued.
