Microsoft is such a constant source of news and a rich subject of speculation. The world’s largest software company garnered headlines earlier this month with the launch of Windows 7 and the Sidekick service outage at its Danger subsidiary. (Yes, Microsoft has a subsidiary called Danger — insert your geeky joke here.)
One area where Microsoft appears vulnerable is the market for mobile devices, where they are facing a challenge from a familiar competitor: Google. The Windows Mobile operating system, on the market for more than a decade, enjoys a global smartphone market share of less than 10%, and it’s falling farther behind the market leaders — the Symbian OS of Nokia, Research In Motion‘s OS for the BlackBerry, and Apple‘s iPhone OS. Coming up with under 2% of the market at the moment but sure to gain market share in the next year is the open-source Android mobile device OS created by Google. It’s being embraced by a wide variety of wireless phone manufacturers and wireless communications carriers, such as Dell, Motorola, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Communications.
Verizon Wireless is jumping on the Android bandwagon in a big way, putting millions of dollars into marketing the Droid phone, which is made by Motorola. The giant carrier’s marketing campaign ignores Nokia, RIM, and Microsoft to go after the iPhone — highlighting features the Apple smartphone doesn’t have and which “Droid does.” Verizon apparently got tired of waiting on Apple to authorize someone other than Apple and AT&T to sell the iPhone in the States, so it’s significantly getting into Android phones.
High Tech Computer (HTC), the Taiwanese manufacturer, is a stalwart user of Windows CE and Windows Mobile for some of its wireless phones. Yet it’s also become one of the world’s biggest adopters of Android, making the first Android-based phone to be marketed in the US (the G1, sold by T-Mobile USA). This year it’s widened its Android touchscreen models to include the myTouch 3G for T-Mobile, the Hero for Sprint, the Imagio for Verizon, and the PURE for AT&T (which exclusively carries the iPhone in the US).
In 2009, how would E.T. phone home? It’s looking like almost anything other than a Microsoft OS-based product.
The Imagio and Pure are Android phones? Are you sure about that?
I think Windows Mobile is already dead. Development over the past year has been slow, with lots of minor cosmetic enhancements, in the same time frame that competitors have developed whole operating systems.
Microsoft is just trying to get a bit more mileage out of the existing handsets before it makes the inevitable announcement that Windows Mobile has been discontinued.
Interesting… Verizon told us in August that it expected to offer iPhone service in Q4, but we didn’t feel like waiting that long. Do you know if that’s still Verizon’s plan?
Just to tell you, the Imagio on Verizon and Pure on ATT are both Windows Mobile devices. You said they were Andriod.
Minor quibble: the HTC Imagio is a Windows Mobile 6.5 platform device.
Microsoft launches initiative to regain market share in smartphones.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2009/gb2009107_421005.htm?campaign_id=yhoo
Motorola and Verizon Wireless launch the Droid; HTC starts consumer marketing in the US.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703697004574498071226608980.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs
My apologies — the HTC Imagio and PURE touchscreen phones are, indeed, based on the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. And Verizon Wireless will not be offering the iPhone this year, for sure. Next year, that’s up in the air.