Microsoft is losing its Windows Phone general manager as 21-year-vet Charlie Kindel is leaving the company to work on an unnamed startup in the Seattle area.
On his blog, Kindel says that the new project will have to do with sports, advertising, mobile, social networking and the cloud. He posted his good-bye e-mail to the Microsoft team and it doesn’t appear like he’s lost faith in Windows Phone.
To the Windows Phone team: I may stop using some Microsoft products now that I’m out of here. But not Windows Phone. The BEST product Microsoft has ever built. Do not let up!
Kindel was most recently general manager of the Windows Phone Developer Ecosystem, according to GeekWire, so it will be difficult to determine how much damage his departure will do to the platform. Microsoft has been pretty good at reaching out to developers to create Windows Phone apps and the software and tools are only getting better.
I don’t care how good the tools are, developers won’t really be interested in creating apps for Windows Phone until it has proven that it will draw a large audience. We’re a few months away from its one-year anniversary and even Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admits that sales are “very small.”
Windows Phone is a unique and fun platform that will only get better with the Mango update. We just need to see the new hardware and if consumers will take to it this holiday season.
[Via Kindel]