Why making the Surface Duo 3 with a folding plastic display would be a huge mistake…

[tiffanysilver]

Steve! I'm so glad that you're still making content. Your videos were my first introduction to technology based Youtube videos. I don't think I'd be as interested in technology today if it wasn't for you! Keep at it!

[DaveTheBird]

Yep they have a history of giving up on good hardware designs, Zune, Band. Love some of their hardware, I have gone over to chrome os and the only decent mouse I could find for my hp chrome desktop is a microsoft arc mouse, it has a great trackpad type top for scrolling etc.... Been watching and listening to you for a very very long time Steve!

[cwfqayin]

One of the reason that I can think of is that, Android's UI already start to support foldables so MS would not need to customize the UI by themselves.

[jelleholst]

Microsoft should make it with the right aspect ratio for watching movies then it would be perfect

[bricequirl]

Microsoft had a very hard time getting Android and the apps to work on the Duo form-factor. Additionally, very, very few 3rd party app makers ever bothered to develop apps for the Duo. When the original Duo/Andromeda was being developed and refined, folding OLED screens were fragile and had durability issues; but that segment has evolved much faster than the dual screen segment, and it is much more vital now.

Microsoft is now bringing a folding device to market that will directly compete with Samsung and (soon) Google. Further, being more than a full release cycle behind now, basically buries them behind the competition. Add to this Microsoft has an extremely poor reputation in the mobile space and little-to-nothing to differenicate their upcoming device, the option of simply stopping is indeed the best option!

Microsoft has no stomach to overlay the level of complexity on Android they did with Duo. "No more custom" is the reason the Duo has been canceled; this includes hardware, but ALSO software. Microsoft looks to not do the things that led to Duo's failure, but I predict failure is inevitable no matter what they do.

[CraigCarroll]

I own both a surface duo 1 and z fold 2, but both are on the side gathering dust. The reason why, their successors are missing the major things I want especially when paying a lot of money on what are meant to be flag ship devices.

I want a persicope camera in the z fold, higher megapixels, better flash, integrated stylus and want wireless charging in the duo also with a better camera.

The UK and US markets have no competition when compared to the foldables being released in China. They are overpriced and there is no appetite to add these "bleeding edge" features.

It is sad to see Microsoft ditching the two screens and whilst I agree with your comments Steve about lost development time. There is a possibility that a single folding phone might give Samsung a challenge, but it is a wait and see game.

However based on Microsoft's past, I am unsure what mediocre features they'd bring to a single folding phone and if it would be genuine competition.

Today I use a s21 ultra, it's not bleeding edge but the s22 ultra doesn't have anything that excites me nor gets me to pay twice the cost for just a fraction of better components. Possibly the s23 will have this, but the z fold 5 needs to have the same camera as the s23, it needs an integrated stylus and a flatter crease in the screen.

The foldables that Oppo have released in China offer different sizes. I'd love to see them here with a full google supported OS.

If I am spending £1800 on a phone then I expect the best in class for everything. There is simply no competition nor motivation which means there is no appetite to innovate and make the best in class.

[michaelcorcoran]

I hate to be a cynic, but given that they said this isn't coming out this fall as they had originally hoped with a duo. 3, I think there's a reasonable chance Microsoft executives cancel this project before this thing ever sees the light of day. They have put no resources into marketing Duo 2. And they won't even keep them in stock because it would require absorbing losses or selling the phones at or below cost. Now they expect people to be ready to buy an expensive Microsoft project 2024, after they skipped 2 years?

[farishanafiah]

I don't understand all the hype of foldable screen when I can't run two apps simultaneously without some window snapping. I don't need to do that with dual screen phones.

[darrenmorin]

I'm not saying anything original here, but the Duo was originally supposed to be a Windows Phone IIRC, and the short/wide screen would have worked well with that, I think. But we got Android instead. I think the hardware was definitely unique and by not being a clamshell, I think it'll lose it's "Surface"-ness.

[michaelcorcoran]

Yeah I don't see this being a commercial success. And strictly as a user, I'm not a person that wants a foldable plastic OLED screen that can scratch at a level 2. I like dual screens. Actually think LG did it the best, because it was still a very excellent normal flagship phone without the dual screen accessory.

The bigger issue with Microsoft is they don't even seem to really want to compete. The duo 2has been out of stock for months. People with warranties can't even get replacements anymore. They implied strongly there would not be any new batches coming.

And this foldable, which is going to be many generations behind other manufacturers as you mentioned, He's not even scheduled to come out in 2023.

So there will be 2 years without any access to a new Android device from Microsoft.

It's not like the surface pro or the Xbox where they only operating system under willing to invest and even lose hundreds of millions to pursue market share and long-term relevancy.

The surface duo was shoehorned into Android when they couldn't get there windows on arm operating system up for the neo and the duo.

I just don't get Microsoft sometimes.

All of that said, the OG duo can be found for a couple hundred bucks it's worth it as an e-reader alone.

[albert]

Nice content mate! Become an online boss > Promo'SM !!