This article was published on February 6, 2012

Microsoft expected to bring Windows Phone retail incentives to Europe


Microsoft expected to bring Windows Phone retail incentives to Europe

Ever since it first became known that Microsoft and Nokia plan to bring sales incentives to retail smartphone stores in the United States, compensating salesmen for moving Windows Phone handsets, we have expected the program to grow. Today, the first steps of that potential expansion have become known.

According to WMPowerUser, leaning on a “reliable source,” Microsoft will be giving Xbox consoles to top-selling stores in various European countries. While this promotion is different from what was proposed for the US market, it certainly can’t hurt Windows Phone in the area; any incentive in this case is a positive. The same report claims that “businesses who buy a Windows Phone will get a €100 discount on Office.”

Windows Phone 8, often called ‘Apollo,’ has a number of features that are aimed at such corporations, including a form of encryption that could make the Windows Phone line more attractive to enterprise customers.

However, while these steps are in the right direction, it’s important to keep a firm perspective on Windows Phone: it’s tiny, compared to any market player, and especially when stacked against the market leading Android and iOS platforms. Microsoft made it through its first year with WP7, and its second is off to a stronger start, but the journey to real relevance remains very much in front of it.

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We’ll put it like this: “Nokia’s Lumia 900 is absolutely fantastic, but does it have a chance in hell?”

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