10 ways microsoft can save windows mobil…
What will Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announce during Monday’s Mobile World Congress press event in Barcelona, Spain? There’s what he will announce and what he should. I’m skipping the speculation about what and going right to should. Microsoft’s mobile strategy is a mess.
Apple and Google have routed Microsoft in mobile operating systems. Android and iPhone OS make Windows Mobile look about as fresh as Windows 95. Meanwhile, Microsoft has chased Research in Motion’s BlackBerry in the enterprise for years, never making any real gains. It’s long past time for the Big Ballmer to step up and offer something substantial not promises of future technology coming but goodies available immediately or nearly so. I’ve condensed what easily was a list of 15 or so items down to 10 things Microsoft must do immediately to save Windows Mobile from extinction.
Microsoft has no more time. It’s do or die, and even doing now may be too late.
With that introduction, Microsoft should:1. Release Windows Mobile 7. That’s not announce but release, either next week or within 60 days. Anything less than immediate or near-immediate timing is simply too long.
Google’s Android is on rapid development and end-user adoption pace now, and Apple is sure to release a new iPhone model by summer. Meanwhile, Windows Mobile continues its decline.
Gartner and IDC haven’t yet released worldwide smartphone OS shipments for fourth quarter, but ComScore has released US phone subscriber share, based on a survey of more than 30,000 mobile users. Android phone share (based on actual subscribers not shipments) was 5.2 percent in fourth quarter, up from 2.5 percent sequentially.