Jan. 15, 2010
A minor commotion hit the Web today: which versions of Microsoft Windows Mobile will be featured at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona? And does it matter?
Microsoft will surely emphasize its current Windows Mobile 6.5, released last fall. But with increasing enterprise acceptance of the Apple iPhone and Google Android platforms, many people are more interested in what Microsoft will do next to refresh its own software, widely considered an aging system.
Microsoft has already promised to show unique but unspecified new features, and a variety of reports today debated whether the next Windows Mobile will be version 6.6 or 7.0. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas pointed out that what matters are capabilities, not names.
"They do have a good OS right now, but there's still some problems," such as long delays between updates and Windows Mobile's clunky user interface compared to modern multitouch devices.
If Microsoft does delay 7.0 from this year to 2011, "I'm hoping we can get at least more news about that. What i'm hoping to hear is hard dates with solid support behind it," he said.
There is even talk about whether Microsoft's chance to be a dominant mobile device player has passed. IDC's market share numbers make it clear. At the end of 2007, in the U.S., Research In Motion (BlackBerry) had 41.1%, trailed by Windows at 27.4%. But for the first three quarters of 2009, Research in Motion has 47.8%, Apple has 24.7%, and Windows is down to 14.6%.
Llamas said that doesn't mean Microsoft is out of luck. "It's definitely not too late, as evidenced by Palm. Their PalmOS had gone unrefined for years, yet they made a huge splash with WebOS."
Still, he added, upon considering his own company's market study: "How the mighty have fallen!"
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