Wireless carriers like Sprint (S), Verizon (VZN) and AT&T (T) are also in this too, as Windows Phones provide a new series of product to secure contracts with. Additionally, more news continues to circulate about the increasing financial burden of subsidizing Apple's iPhone which costs the carrier $450.00 per model to make the price point attractive against Android devices. As such, the "big three" are making moves to try and make unlocked iPhone sales more attractive and if this trend continues, the cheaper, more streamlined product line from Nokia could easily fill that space.
Windows Phone could also give app developers a new revenue generator and a better negotiating position in their dealings with Apple and Google. The success of the platform would be predicated on the increasing number of people or companies developing for the platform as if the rapid growth of Android after 100,000 apps says anything, it doesn't take long for an OS to gain momentum. Microsoft is paying out for apps, and with more success there's enormous opporunity for big profits for apps that really hit home with consumers. In that same vane, the success of Windows Phone would allow developers to argue that Google and Apple should also take on similar policies which in the long term could hurt Google Play and the App Store if developers flock en masse to Microsoft.
Article comments
1 - John V.
A lot of OS are expected to be "born" and rise in the next few years. Apps of different OS but with similar feature/services (eg. voice, phone) will absolutely compete among each other. It is not possible that Window's may not be able to make it -- it can, so let's wait for those days (and for other apps/OS) to come.