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LG: WP7 falls short as carriers tire of "too much Android"

In an interview with Pocket-lint, LG, marketing strategy and planning team director James Choi said of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, "from an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected."


Choi added, "LG has been closely collaborating with Microsoft from the beginning. What we feel is that it is absolutely perfect for a huge segment out there. What we feel is that some people believe that some operating systems, mainly Google, are extremely complicated for them. But Windows Phone 7 is very intuitive and easy to use.”

"One of the problems," the report noted, "is that some believe that the OS is so easy to use that it’s a bit boring."

Choi himself said that, "for tech guys like us it might be a little bit boring after a week or two, but there are certain segments that it really appeals to. We strongly feel that it has a strong potential even though the first push wasn’t what everyone expected”.

Microsoft has been cagey in talking about the launch of Windows Phone 7, even as its own developers "suggest that you think of Windows Phone 7 development as a hobby or a learning experience."

Microsoft itself has described the Windows Phone 7 launch as "inline with our expectations," even while describing shipments that could only barely fill out global channel inventory.

LG still strong on Microsoft

LG appears to be the first licensee to openly call Windows Phone 7 a serious disappointment, but it isn't ready to abandon Microsoft yet because it has few alternatives, lacking even its own recognizable mobile platform in contrast to Samsung's Bada, RIM's BlackBerry, or HP's Palm/webOS.

The phone maker was led down a rabbit hole in 2009 with Windows Mobile 6.5, a year when LG took over the lead role in promoting Windows Mobile in what the Washington Post described at the time "an enhanced partnership" with Microsoft.

"Microsoft said it will also be working closer with LG, a company it had agreed to a partnership with in advance. LG is committing to developing 50 new Windows Mobile phones by the end of 2012 and both companies, Microsoft and LG, are committing to increasing their investment in Windows Mobile by five-fold," the report said at the time.

After Windows Mobile continued to collapse in 2009 and was replaced with Windows Phone 7 in late 2010, LG continued to support the new platform as a top licensee, even as its chief executive Nam Yong stepped down due to big losses; LG had erased 30 percent of its mobile share over the previous three years.