You didn't know it anyway, but Microsoft tried to take on Android and iOS with its own operating system: Windows Phone.For a time, using a Windows Phone was something different. Not better, not worse, just different. You had a fluid interface, moving icons (those famous "live tiles"), and a design that embraced minimalism when everyone else was going in the opposite direction.
Then, What were the reasons for its failure? There is an important actor called Stephen Elop, Nokia's great traitor, but let's explain the story from the beginning.
Why Windows Phone Failed: A Good System Destined to End
As we mentioned, years ago Microsoft had its own line of phones that used a different operating system. But in 2025, if you mention Windows Phone, most people raise an eyebrow or let out a nostalgic chuckle. What happened to Microsoft's bid to gain a foothold in the mobile market? Spoiler: it ended up being one of the most notorious failures in recent technological history.And not because it was a bad product, far from it. Windows Phone had good, even brilliant, ideas. The problem was something else. Well, there were several.
Arriving late to the party cost Windows Phone dearly.
In tech, being late is like arriving at an interview after the candidate has been chosen. When Microsoft launched Windows Phone in 2010, Android was already taking off in a big way and Apple had been setting the pace for three years with the iPhone.Most users have already become wedded to one of these two systems, and switching phones involves more than just changing brands: it involves changing habits, apps, and the ecosystem.
With Windows Phone you could have a smooth and modern experience, but He arrived when the market was already divided into two very well-armed sides. And the worst part: when there was still room for manoeuvre, Microsoft didn't act decisively enough. Android overshadowing Windows Phone was the logical outcome. But Google was more aggressive. The Mountain View company avoided developing native apps for Windows Phone and even blocked certain attempts by Microsoft to release its own version of YouTube for the system.
This wasn't an accident. Google knew that allowing Windows Phone to get close to its ecosystem of most popular apps (YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.) would have given it half the cake. So it simply refused. And that left Windows phones at an insurmountable disadvantage. Let's see how you convince someone to buy a phone without a decent YouTube app in 2013.
Windows Phone failed because it was late, because failed to build a powerful app ecosystem, because it was the victim of a bad strategy, and because Google closed many doors on it. But it also failed because the market had already chosen its winners, and changing that was practically impossible.
This was, without a doubt, the longest nail in the coffin. Having a mobile operating system without apps is like having a car without a steering wheel. Yes, you can look at how beautiful the inside is, but you won't get very far. On Windows Phone, you could do a lot of things, but you couldn't install Instagram for years. YouTube worked so-so. Snapchat didn't even bother. And when some of these apps arrived, they came with truncated, outdated versions, or simply as a website stuffed into an icon.
Why? Because Developers did not want to spend time and resources on a platform with little market share. And of course, that share wasn't growing precisely because there were no apps. A vicious cycle that Microsoft never managed to break.
Stephen Elop enters the scene and destroys Nokia
As you well know, for years, Nokia was the absolute king of mobile phones. Its phones were synonymous with quality, durability, and good design. But with the arrival of the iPhone in 2007 and the subsequent emergence of Android, the market changed dramatically.
Nokia had its own operating system, Symbian, but failed to adapt it to the touchscreen era, and its other attempt, MeeGo, arrived too late. So it was time to change course. And then came the big betrayal. In 2010, Stephen Elop was appointed CEO of Nokia. He came directly from Microsoft, where he had been head of the business division (primarily Office). He was the first non-Finnish CEO in Nokia's history.
Okay, on the one hand, we have the first non-Finnish CEO (at Nokia headquarters). Very early on, in 2011, Elop published the famous "Burning Platform Memo," an internal letter in which he compared Nokia to a worker on a burning oil platform who had to jump into the sea to survive. The message was clear: abandon Symbian and MeeGo, and find a new strategy.
Of course,This is where Google came into the picture, going to Nokia's offices to offer a lucrative deal: Nokia was abandoning Symbian and MeeGo to embrace Android.But Stephen Elop was still eating out of Microsoft’s hand… Instead of choosing Android (as Samsung, HTC and almost the rest of the market did), Elop bet exclusively on Windows Phone, Microsoft’s mobile operating system, which was a minority, immature and had very little app support.
That's where the decline began: Nokia quickly lost market share. Although its Lumia Windows Phones were good hardware-wise, the system wasn't taking off. People wanted Android or iPhone. Many in the industry didn't understand the decision. Nokia had the muscle to make a powerful Android and differentiate itself, as Samsung did. But Elop completely closed that door. And there was a reason: to kill Nokia and sell its business to Microsoft, which is what they did.
Do you think I'm exaggerating? Here comes the most gruesome part. In 2013, just three years later, Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile division for €5.440 billion. And who piloted the operation from the inside? Elop, who returned to Microsoft as executive vice president. Oh, and with an incredible severance package from Nokia.
To the point that the term "Trojan horse" was used in various tech media. In Finland, Elop is seen by many as the destroyer of Nokia. It's best not to let him go around too much... Without a doubt, the main culprit behind the fall of Windows Phone.