Microsoft Claims Less Windows Mobile Devices in the Future

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/microsoft-expect-fewer-phones-with-windows/' target='_blank'>http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/...s-with-windows/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"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.'"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/spt/auto/1210831667.usr8.jpg" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>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&rsquo;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.</p>

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

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.

[Stinger]

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.

[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.

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

[whydidnt]

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

This is exactly what I was thinking. :D

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.

[Rocco Augusto]

In this case Microsoft are losing customers, so they spin it and state that they have decided to sell to fewer customers.

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.

[Fritzly]

[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.

[JesterMania]

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.

[alese]

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.

[Pony99CA]

Might be too little, too late for MS.
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. ;)

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.
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

[Pony99CA]

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.
That's an interesting idea, but they already bought Danger. Yes, HTC would give them some better software (maybe -- we haven't seen what WM 6.5/7 is about or what Danger has done), but I'm not sure buying HTC is necessary.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

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.
My thoughts exactly, Rocco. That's a lot of devices to be losing customers. People need to remember that losing marketshare doesn't necessarily equate to losing customers.

Steve

[whydidnt]

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

I don't think the impact of technology is measured soley by market share. First the iPhone entered a much more mature market with well established players and software. The fact that Apple has passed Windows Mobile in quarterly sales figures sure indicates a large impact to me. The fact that EVERY other smart phone maker has attempted to copy iPhone form factor (Touch, no keyboard, improved interent experience) shows just how big of an impact Apple has had, probably as much as the MP3 market which is a smaller market to begin with.

Microsoft has been caught sleeping on the job, by nearly as much as Palm previously was. The fact that they are taking 3-4 years to come to market with a new OS shows just how complacent they were. The problem is they are still selling a lot of licenses, and in most cases, included the iPhone, they get the Exchange Sync license anyway, so they probably aren't as financially motivated as some of us would want. Unless they find a way to get their licensees to ramp up the hardware for more consumer freindly devices the Exchange License will eventually be all they are selling, though.

[Pony99CA]

I don't think the impact of technology is measured soley by market share. First the iPhone entered a much more mature market with well established players and software. The fact that Apple has passed Windows Mobile in quarterly sales figures sure indicates a large impact to me. The fact that EVERY other smart phone maker has attempted to copy iPhone form factor (Touch, no keyboard, improved interent experience) shows just how big of an impact Apple has had, probably as much as the MP3 market which is a smaller market to begin with.
I normally wouldn't pick on the "every" part, figuring it was rhetoric, but as you emphasized it, I will. Palm hasn't copied it, at least until the Pre. And even the Pre doesn't conform to the three design choices you listed -- it has a keyboard.

Also, passing Windows Mobile in quarterly sales is one thing, but how do the yearly sales compare? Microsoft said there were 20 million Windows Mobile phones shipped (that may not equate to "bought", of course).

Finally, as I said, Apple certainly breathed new life into the Smartphone market. Apple also breathed new life into the the MP3 player market and dominated it. Therefore, they haven't had the impact on the Smartphone market that they had in the MP3 market because they don't dominate the Smartphone market (yet :))

Microsoft has been caught sleeping on the job, by nearly as much as Palm previously was. The fact that they are taking 3-4 years to come to market with a new OS shows just how complacent they were.
Agreed, and I've said that all along (search for "rested laurels" and my user name and you'll see several posts here). We all agree that Microsoft needs to respond to Apple, Google and now Palm or they risk losing out big.

Steve

[MAK11]

Everybody seems to forget (or just doesn't know) that the biggest seller of "MP3 players" is actualy..........NOKIA. They sell 100s of millions of MP3 playing Phones every year and 10s of millions of users listen to music with their phones... Think about it..

[Rocco Augusto]

Sold or shipped? This reminds me the debate about Vista licenses.

In this case I believe it is sold, but in Microsoft's case they make their money by selling the license to their OEM's and not from the OEM's selling devices to customers so even if it was devices shipped, they still had a pretty good payday ;)

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

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.
Perhaps I should have done a better job with my statement. It was not meant to state that the iPhone has already reached the exact level of maturity as the iPod has at this moment. The iPod has had years to reach their current level and the iPhone has only been around for a fraction of that time.

When I said it has had the same impact, my statement was more in regards to the immediate splash each have had on their respective markets. In both cases, Apple has succeeded in creating a demand for their product that had previously been unrivaled by any single product within that market segment... and while the iPhone suffered through some hiccups, it doesn't change the fact that I've never seen a SmartPhone garner so much attention by folks around me (note: I am NOT an iPhone user). The only recent comparison I can make in any market segment is the iPod within the MP3 market.

As for the "too little too late" statement... the analogy that I gave to Microsoft is given for the specific reason that they've tainted their image with many consumers. Not only are many consumers uninterested in Microsoft's offering, but they are TURNED OFF by it. I have met so many people now who at one time tried a Windows Mobile device and decided they never want to go back to it (whether fair or not). While the Palm Pre may indeed be too late to steal enough of the iPhone's thunder to make an impact, they don't face the same negative preconception that Microsoft does today with consumers.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Everybody seems to forget (or just doesn't know) that the biggest seller of "MP3 players" is actualy..........NOKIA. They sell 100s of millions of MP3 playing Phones every year and 10s of millions of users listen to music with their phones... Think about it..
While they may be the biggest seller of MP3 devices, I think that stat can be terribly misleading in terms of the conclusion people can draw from it.

I can speak as a hardcore Nokia fan (my last four phones have been Nokia phones... 3650, 6610, XpressMusic, and e51). I have sworn by Nokia phones for years but have never used the built in MP3 capability for anything longer than just a trial period.

I'm sure there are others who do use the MP3 capability, but I've yet to meet someone who ever considered Nokia when looking to buy an MP3 player.

[Rocco Augusto]

Everybody seems to forget (or just doesn't know) that the biggest seller of "MP3 players" is actualy..........NOKIA. They sell 100s of millions of MP3 playing Phones every year and 10s of millions of users listen to music with their phones... Think about it..

MP3 playing phones are not counted as MP3 players as their primary function is of that as a phone, just as phones with cameras are not considers cameras but still phones. Remember these devices are built as phones first with everything else added to them as an afterthought or a feature but are not the primary focus of the device. If this was the case every phone on the market today would probably be on Amazon's list of top selling MP3 players or cameras ;)

[caywen]

My wife has an interesting way to put it when she thinks a product is great. She says, "there's love here." It means that the people who put it together cared deeply enough to take care of details they didn't have to. It means the product becomes more than the sum of its part.

The iPhone has a lot of love in it. The designers really, really cared. They had principles, and you can tell they thought about this at all levels. It's obviously not perfect, but there's love.

I've yet to see a Windows Mobile device that shows that kind of attention to detail. Most of them disappoint because no one cares that settings takes 3 seconds to open, or that the browser is crap, or that programmers still have to wrestle with an API from the 80's.

The Palm device looks like it has it. You can tell even from the videos that they cared about the quality.

I hope there's love in WinMo 7. There certainly wasn't any in WinMo 4, 5, 6, or 6.1. And there likely won't be any in 6.5.

[jeansonline]

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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