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I think the reason Bill Gates doesn't promote Windows Mobile and Smartphones is because they just don't make that much money. At least not yet enough for BG to care. I think because we hang out in places like these, we tend to think that PDAs and Smartphones are everywhere. But they aren't.
I work at a major university in the IT department. We have very technical people, some of the best in the business. Yet, I am one of the few that have a PDA and one of the fewer that have a PDA phone (a Samsung I730). None of my family has a PDA. Nor do many of my friends. The truth is, the number of people using PDAs and Smartphones is very small. When industry people talk about the popularity of something like the Treo 650 as being "high", it's still only a very small percentage of cell phone users. I read somewhere that the last two Verizon PDA's - the VX6600 and I730, have sold 20,000-30,000 units. Sounds like a lot except when you figure that Verizon has about 45 millions cell phone users - a value of about 6 1/2 percent. Not a staggering number IMO.
So why do companies like HP churn out PDA's and Microsoft keep producing OS's for them? Because they do still make some profit (even if not a lot), probably due to high margins. Its just a guess, but I think its a reasonable estimate.
I also think they stay in the business because of what PDA's could become in the future. Seven percent isn't a lot now, but once true broadband services like EVDO come into wide use and Smartphones become easier to use and more stable (especially in the phone part), Smartphones will become a more popular choice and that percantage will grow.
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