01-12-2009, 01:15 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,432
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Microsoft Claims Less Windows Mobile Devices in the Future
"Todd Peters, VP of marketing for the Windows Mobile Division said that while Microsoft was looking into beefing up WinMo's features, its strategy for the new year was to limit the number of devces using the OS. Right now about 140 cellphones use WinMo. Peters said Microsoft is hoping to shrink that number in order to not 'have its efforts diluted over too many devices.'" 
I feel this is probably one of the best things Microsoft could do moving forward besides taking complete control of the hardware and the software of the Windows Mobile platform. Narrowing down the current range of Windows Mobile devices will allow Microsoft to focus more on features and fine tuning the software instead of focusing on whether or not it will run on 140+ different phones. Unfortunately there was no word on how tight Microsoft will make the Windows Mobile belt, but one thing is clear - with the recent announcement of Palm’s amazing looking WebOS platform, Microsoft has to start making some serious changes right away as they are close to the last major mobile phone OS developer to release something to compete in this new mobile market.
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01-12-2009, 07:22 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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Might be too little, too late for MS. I wasn't a fan of Palm before, but so far, the previews of their new WebOS and the potential upside to both the consumers and the enterprise is just huge IMHO. This is in addition to the observation that Apple has succeeded in having the same impact on the SmartPhone market with the iPhone as they had on the MP3 player market with the iPod.
Last edited by Ekkie Tepsupornchai; 01-12-2009 at 07:24 AM..
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01-12-2009, 02:07 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 471
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Surely with the global stock markets plunging, now is the time for Microsoft to buy HTC and go it alone?
HTC know how to make Windows Mobile devices better than anyone else and they're the only successful company to really commit big to the platform. As nice as the SE X1 and Treo Pro are, I'm sure they're not adding much to Microsoft's bottom line.
Tight software/hardware integration would allow Microsoft to accelerate innovation and react quicker to changes in the market.
Otherwise, I don't see anything other than a niche future for Windows Mobile when it's two big rivals (Symbian, Android) will be free and open source.
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01-12-2009, 02:31 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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LOL....If there is a single buzz word that has come to prominence in the 21st century it is "SPIN" Major corporations never state anything negative. They spin it so it sounds intentional and positive.
In this case Microsoft are losing customers, so they spin it and state that they have decided to sell to fewer customers.
I think this announcement shows that Windows Mobile is indeed in trouble, and partners are pulling out in favor of other platforms. Look what Motorola just announced....they are dropping Windows Mobile in favor of Android.
Dave
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01-12-2009, 03:54 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paragon
LOL....If there is a single buzz word that has come to prominence in the 21st century it is "SPIN" Major corporations never state anything negative. They spin it so it sounds intentional and positive.
In this case Microsoft are losing customers, so they spin it and state that they have decided to sell to fewer customers.
Dave
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This is exactly what I was thinking. 
Microsoft has always been about selling as many licenses as they can. I don't think they are worried that their efforts are being "diluted" when there are 140+ different netbooks running one of their desktop operating systems. I'd have put a little more weight on this if they had said they were greatly tightening the hardware requirements to provide a better overall experience and because of that expected fewer partners/devices.
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01-12-2009, 05:52 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,432
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paragon
In this case Microsoft are losing customers, so they spin it and state that they have decided to sell to fewer customers.
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20 million devices shipped with Windows Mobile on them in 2008. I doubt very much this has anything to do with spin. The fact that Microsoft and OEMs have saturated the market with Windows Mobile device has always been a problem for Microsoft and until they limit the number of devices their platforms run on will continue to be a thorn in their side.
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01-12-2009, 08:52 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 740
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[QUOTE=Rocco Augusto;700765]20 million devices shipped with Windows Mobile on them in 2008.QUOTE]
Sold or shipped? This reminds me the debate about Vista licenses.
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01-12-2009, 09:05 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 378
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I wonder that with the Microsoft acquisition of Danger (HipTop devices) whether they can make use of this and find some leveraging between the two types of devices.
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01-12-2009, 09:44 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 541
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Just about the only advantage WM has over the other competitors is the "depth" and diversity of HW.
I agree with one of the other posters, that the sensible thing would only be to be more strict with HW requirements thus avoiding sub par HW running their SW, but limiting the choice is not smart.
What it would be smart, would be to come up with new OS version with really good and intuitive interface, what would be smar would be to create the environment (ecosystem) in which this OS would provide great user experience - SW store, media store/zune integration, real and usable integration (syncing) with desktops, even better integration with Enterprise productcs (Exchange)...
What would be smart would be to provide users not only with services, the infrastructure and the interface, but also with really usable software (better Mail client, more Office capabilities, really useful browser, usable media player...) built in.
If they would do that and HTC would provide some nice HW, noone could touch them.
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01-12-2009, 09:57 PM
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Swami
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,396
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Mobile OS Competition
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekkie Tepsupornchai
Might be too little, too late for MS.
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Of course it might be. Symbian also might fail to garner support for their open source version; Palm's Pre might be too little, too late; the iPhone might lose momentum as the flavor of the year; Android might be abandoned if Google doesn't see revenue coming from it; the Earth might fall into a black hole. 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekkie Tepsupornchai
This is in addition to the observation that Apple has succeeded in having the same impact on the SmartPhone market with the iPhone as they had on the MP3 player market with the iPod.
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They haven't. I've read that Apple has something like 85% of the MP3 market, but they're nowhere near that in the Smartphone market. Let's see if the iPhone can even crack 50% before claiming something like this.
Apple certainly breathed some life into the market, and deserves a lot of credit for that, but there's enough hype about the iPhone without needing to create more.
Steve
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