* The Ghost In The Machine peremptorily fired off this memo:
> May make no difference. Microsoft phones are
> already showing up. Most likely this will be the next
> battleground, and it's a very highly fragmented market --
> not unlike the homebrew computer markets of the late 70's,
> in some respects. Microsoft could very well unify these
> markets under one well-known umbrella OS, though they'll
> have to fight off Symbian first.
Or themselves. This is a year old, I wonder if it still holds:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/50755EA6-A759-42FD-84ED-EBB5A060AF16.html
The Spectacular Failure of WinCE and Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Linux, and Symbian currently power the
world\u2019s smartphones. How does each stack up against Apple\u2019s
OS X in the iPhone? Here\u2019s an overview looking at the merits of
each, starting with Microsoft.
. . .
That means that the staggering losses reported for WinCE--not to
mention the Xbox and Zune--are not the result of huge amounts of
technology development or advertising campaigns, but simply because
nobody wants to buy them, even when offered at loss leader prices.
How embarrassing!
. . .
The mobile phone market is now dominated by Symbian, with Linux in
second place. WinCE only accounts for around 5% of smartphone mobile
sales, which itself is a fraction of the overall mobile market.
. . .
It's no wonder Microsoft is losing so much money down the rat
hole of WinCE: it's a shotgun approach to solving everything in
the "smaller than a breadbox" category with a general purpose
solution.
--
If you show people the problems and you show people the solutions they will be
moved to act.
-- Bill Gates, At Live8 (2 July 2005) as reported in BBC News (4 July 2005)
|
|
