Why Microsoft lost Ford Sync

Why Microsoft lost Ford Sync

 

Ford is calling off the car connectivity relationship with Microsoft that produced Ford Sync. Ford instead will partner with Blackberry and use its QNX operating system. Worse for Microsoft, it’s possible other auto companies might bail on the company in the future. These automakers are looking for a technology partner that is able to lower their costs, improve performance and reliability, and get more third-party apps into the dash, and Microsoft hasn’t been pulling its weight.
Microsoft is far from dead in the water — the software giant counts more than a dozen automakers as clients and we understand that several are happy customers. Bing is picking up support in the dash in response to a power play by Google that may have backfired. And even when Ford pulls the plug, there’s still a decade of revenues coming from Ford because of the need to support and update legacy systems until end-of-life (currently about 11 years). About 7 million Ford and Lincoln Sync cars are on the road.

“Industry’s worst-kept secret”

Here’s what’s happening, according to industry sources, none of whom want to be quoted because Detroit and Silicon Valley love gossip but not gossipers. In 2008, Ford thought it had a winner when it became the first automaker in the US to work with Microsoft for an in-dash infotainment solution providing Bluetooth, USB, voice recognition, a touchscreen interface, and optionally navigation. It shipped first on the 2008 Ford Focus and underwent continual improvement since then, in response to continual griping. Fiat introduced a similar Microsoft product, Blue&Me, a year earlier in Europe.

Ford tried to improve Sync, and leaned on Microsoft to improve the back end, but the improvements apparently weren’t enough, especially as other automakers brought out systems that owners liked better (some ironically using Microsoft software in the background). Rising expectations for functionality rose faster than Ford could make improvements. Satisfaction ratings fell. Some say Microsoft got the basics right — Bluetooth, voice input — but never got past that plateau of core functionality. As a result, Ford will switch from Microsoft to RIM’s QNX. The deal hasn’t been announced but it has also been described as “industry’s worst-kept secret.”