UPDATE: Added explanation of cow photo.
When is Windows Phone 7 Series coming to market? September 2010? 
Seven months from now? That’s a long time to be making WinMobile users hate your brand. Or to keep investing in code that only runs on 6.5 with a short shelf life. In that spirit, Adobe announced it’s suspending engineering for 6.5 flash products.
The cow to the left is being immobilized for humane slaughter. Photo: Dr. Temple Grandin. Do you love your product? Product portfolio managers set those feelings aside so they can end-of-life them at the right time.
Similarly Russ Shaw yesterday killed the Skype Lite for Windows Mobile thin client and the Skype for Windows Mobile app. Shaw is Skype’s new VP/GM for its mobile business unit. Customer dissatisfaction with those products hurt Skype’s reputation as easy, reliable and sensual. It took fresh eyes and a clear mandate to kill Skype’s current offerings without a replacement ready. The user experience -– complaints of abysmal audio quality and improper hardware setup — hurt Skype’s business more than it helped.
Skype pulled these releases from distribution; if you have Skype installed on your Windows Mobile phone then you can Skype away all year.
Practicing product management sometimes feels like raising livestock. We have great hopes, spend time nurturing them, and get the most out of them during their productive life. When that productive life is over? Take them to the slaughterhouse and kill them. Make room for the next generation.
Skype’s mobile services are available on most handsets yet Skype is still just starting to partner deeply with mobile operators. While the product portfolio is diversified, Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 has been the only large carrier to seriously partner with Skype. Skype’s partnership with Verizon is a great start at diversifying mobile revenue partners and expanding United States distribution.
Hat tip to WMPoweruser for breaking this.
- Jim Courtney: Skype for Mobile – Now Focusing on a True Skype User Experience.
- Jim Courtney: Skype for Mobile: An Interview with Skype’s Russ Shaw.
- Russ Shaw: 2009 in Mobile, December 2009
tags: skype, windowsphone, mobile
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