[_heimdall]

I expect the GP was referring to missing the boat in responding to the iPhone after it swept away Windows Mobile.

Microsoft was late to respond, eventually bought Danger and released the Kin phone before cancelling it within weeks, and only released Windows Phone in 2010 a solid 3 years after the iPhone release.

Windows Phone was actually pretty nice to use, but they were already too late to the scene and didn't have a chance to steal ground from iPhone or android who already had solid app ecosystems.

[ThrowawayB7]

That still isn't missing the boat. The pivot to the improved UI in Windows Mobile 6.5, the last of the old school Windows CE based releases, and skins by OEMs like HTC was IIRC in response to the iPhone's successful UI innovations.

And let's not forget that Google specifically interfered with access to their services on Windows Phone to hamstring it.