Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems clear to me. They executed on a strategy and consumers weren't interested.
My wife really likes Windows Phone and wanted a Lumia 1020 for the camera. I offered her my 6+ and she refused. Trying to upgrade her to a new model is basically impossible. At the time we bought it if you went to any carrier store the Windows phones were clearly second class citizens with the best models not present. Carriers like T-Mobile wouldn't even sell you a decent model because they don't carry them at all an…
They didn't release any new phone models for something like 3 solid years. At the same time, the Nokia purchase removed HTC (who was at least somewhat enthusiastic about the OS previously) from the Windows Phone ecosystem.
So if you're a die-hard Windows Phone fan, they went 3 years with no new phones for you to buy! It's no wonder the OS is struggling. And while the Nokia 1020 is a fine phone, I loved, loved, loved my HTC WinPhone and it's a damn shame I'll never be able to buy that combination of hardware and software ever again.