01-05-2010, 08:00 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,111
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Windows Mobile Hanging By A Fingernail
The chart says it all - ChangeWave's report on its survey of smartphone users barely even mentions Windows Mobile, and even Palm's Web OS gets more love. The big news is the surge of interest in Android (now coming up to version 2.0) which is shaping up to be the new major competitor to Apple's iPhone. Where, oh where, is Windows Mobile 7?
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"A planner is a gentle man, with neither sword nor pistol.
He walks along most daintily, because his balls are crystal."
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01-05-2010, 01:02 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,734
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Actually the graph says even less people are interested in WebOS, with interest dropping even faster - WM went from 9 to 6, a 33% drop, while webOS went from 6 to 3, a 50% drop.
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01-05-2010, 02:53 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 18
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While I agree, interest in WM is slipping, what has really changed is consumer interest has exploded and are only aware of the iphone and android. I still see users that have never seen a WM device work.
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01-05-2010, 03:34 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 984
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Quote:
Originally Posted by surur
Actually the graph says even less people are interested in WebOS, with interest dropping even faster - WM went from 9 to 6, a 33% drop, while webOS went from 6 to 3, a 50% drop.
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Since they do not publish the margin of error, it's difficult to assess small numbers like this. What you can say is that they both fell by about 3%, which is the same number of users.
Look at the last chart in that report: cell phone OS satisfaction rating. iPhone OS 77%, Android 72%, Blackberry 41%, WebOS 33%, Windows Mobile 25% of current users are very satisfied with their device. That's an ugly, ugly number for Microsoft, and not much better for Palm..
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01-05-2010, 04:28 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 165
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Wow, pretty amazing figures for Windows Mobile. And look at what Android has done to the iPhone! After 8 years of owning nothing but Pocket PC/Windows Mobile devices, it's apparent that unless Microsoft does something amazing, and quick (!!!), its days are numbered.
My next device will be either Android-based, or a huge step to a feature-packed uber-cool WM device (HD2?), most likely a 4G device.
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01-05-2010, 06:07 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 123
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One has to wonder what market segment these 4000 respondents come from? Were they stopped by clipboard wielding survey-takers in a Ohio shopping mall?
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01-06-2010, 12:19 AM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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Quote:
Originally Posted by badersk
While I agree, interest in WM is slipping, what has really changed is consumer interest has exploded and are only aware of the iphone and android. I still see users that have never seen a WM device work.
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I agree... I think what we are seeing here is more of a 'segmentation' of the market, and an explosion of consumerism for smartphone technology. The iPhone definitely put a very intelligent and capable box in the hands of the 'man in the street' consumer, but as people are finding, there are limitations.
Windows Mobile and RIM are, I believe, still the units of choice for the business/enterprise users so yes, the average person in the mall is going to say they are looking for or already have an iPhone.
Android is going to be interesting to watch, to see if it can capture the consumer's interest and bridge into the control and security required by the enterprise market.
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/drt
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01-06-2010, 01:36 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 518
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An interesting article - although somewhat depressing from a Win Mobile User's perspective.
On one hand, wouldn't bother me at all if Windows Mobile disappeared as a MOBILE PHONE OS; OTOH, would be Crushed if it vanished as a PDA OS.
Which may be part of the problem: Win Mobile HAS to have a much higher percentage of users who started out with "dumb" PDAs (WiFi capable or not), than the other OSs (with the possible exception of Palm - ??).
I am willing to put up with the somewhat less-than-ideal Mobile Phone behavior of my Fuze simply because it is the best PDA I have owned: for my usage, PDA functionality trumps Mobile Phone functionality, and "features" such as Photos, Music, Video, GPS, "Finger-Friendlyness," Game Playing, & Whatever are either non-factors (pro or con), or actual detriments. WiFi and Bluetooth have value; data plan internet does not. Fast Data Entry WITH a Reasonably Viewable Document (ie: Fitaly  ) has value; "Finger Friendly" interfaces that eat up nearly all of the available screen space does not....
Would say that I am also willing to "put up with" the Win MO interface, except that I don't HAVE to "put up" with it: it is familiar enough to seem like an old friend, and it is instead the fancy new "Touch Friendly" interface (TouchFlo, in this case) that requires acclimatization. Fortunately, a touch of a ("soft") button opens the traditional Win Mo Today screen: not as handy for phone use, but much better for PDA use....
So: How many of the Powers-That-Be at MS are - or have been - approaching the whole "Windows Mobile Smartphone" idea from a similar perspective?
Might explain a lot.
Windows Mobile and RIM are, I believe, still the units of choice for the business/enterprise users so yes, the average person in the mall is going to say they are looking for or already have an iPhone.
This statement still seems to be true: No. 1 Son sells these things, and has noted both for the iPhone AND the new Android phones that a good number of people come in looking for one of the newer OSs, only to walk out with either a Blackberry or WinMo device - because that is all their company will permit.
At least for now....
BTW: The "somewhat less-than-ideal Mobile Phone behavior" of my Fuze has more to do with the fact that it IS a "smartphone" - that is, that the PDA & Phone Functions are combined into one unit - than with the fact that it runs Win Mo. Any other OS would face the same problem of not being able to READ THE SCREEN while the device is being held up to one's ear! (Hence the value of Bluetooth. If it is turned on, and if the headset is at hand...)
Last edited by Reid Kistler; 01-06-2010 at 01:44 AM..
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01-06-2010, 05:32 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 524
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The graph is about what I expected. Android is higher than I expected, but I expected it to be higher than everything except the iphone. I think the only reason BB is so high is because company's get/require them.
I will be interested to see how things go now that the Nexus One is out. That's my next device of choice if the main apps I use (Pocket Informant and Pocket Bible) get ported to Android. Based on their blog WebIS is already working on an Andrpid version of Pocket Informant. The fact that it can use the Amazon music store and has a real app store is just icing on the cake. I don't consider Microsoft's real because it won't work with my WinMo 6.1 device and most people don't know it even exists.
If Microsoft doesn't do something big very soon they won't even be on the next version of this Chart.
AndroidThoughts.com anyone?!?!? 
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01-06-2010, 06:18 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 38
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Anyone ever thought that M$ might not care all that much about this market? Isn't the only reason we use these lame versions of OS's on phones is because the hardware cannot support a full version of Windows/OSX/LINUX, etc.? How long will it be before we can run a full version of Windows 7 on a handheld size device? If that capability is just around the corner, would/should M$ invest huge amounts of $$$ in a crippled Windows Phone OS?
Bottom line, is that I want to run full M$ Office apps, Photoshop, Skype, OneNote, SQL Server, etc. on my hand held device.
A man can dream!
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