TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Sarb tells banks they should work with crypto exchanges

      18 August 2022

      Telkom muscles into banks’ turf with business loans

      18 August 2022

      iPhone 14 launch date targeted for 7 September

      18 August 2022

      Icasa moves to license more broadband spectrum

      17 August 2022

      Eskom to impose more load shedding

      17 August 2022
    • World

      China blasts US over ‘discriminatory’ Chips Act

      18 August 2022

      Tencent reports first-ever sales decline

      17 August 2022

      Chip makers are flashing a big warning for the global economy

      17 August 2022

      Semiconductor boom turns to bust

      16 August 2022

      Tencent plans to offload R400-billion Meituan stake: sources

      16 August 2022
    • In-depth

      Are you a chronic procrastinator? Read this!

      18 August 2022

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Africa Data Centres
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Opinion»Duncan McLeod»Hanging up on Windows Mobile

    Hanging up on Windows Mobile

    Duncan McLeod By Editor27 January 2010
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    Duncan McLeod

    [By Duncan McLeod] Microsoft risks ceding the smartphone market. Its apparent decision to delay the release of Windows Mobile 7 could be the final nail in the coffin of its mobile ambitions. Given that computing is going mobile, that’s a big problem for the software maker.

    At last year’s Mobile World Congress, the annual cellphone industry conference in Spain, I heard several journalists snickering not so quietly while Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled details of the then new Windows Mobile (WinMo) 6.5.

    What they found amusing was that Ballmer was touting a new mobile phone operating system that already looked completely out of date. But Ballmer pressed on, bringing executives from cellphone companies like Taiwan’s HTC onto the stage to wax lyrical about the software.

    WinMo 6.5 was never meant to be. The software’s next big upgrade, WinMo 7, was supposed to ship last year. However, when it was delayed until 2010, Microsoft announced 6.5 as a placeholder.

    Now, in a move that could deal a death blow to Microsoft’s ambitions in the smartphone market, the company has reportedly delayed the release of the WinMo 7 until 2011.

    WinMo 7 was expected to drag Microsoft out of the cellphone dark ages with a product that could finally compete with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s fast-growing Android. In the few short years that Google has been developing the Linux-based Android it has gained significant traction. Today, the software is available on a range of smartphones from manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

    Analysts say WinMo 7 is Microsoft’s last chance to save its mobile operating system business. The latest delay in the software’s release looks set to play directly into Google’s hands. Handset manufacturers are already indicating they’re likely to ditch WinMo in favour of Android. Reports suggest that this year some of them are preparing to sell handsets running Android that were originally meant to run WinMo 7.

    It’s far from clear why Microsoft has been unable to develop a contemporary and compelling mobile operating system. Its new Windows 7 desktop software is top notch. Yet in mobiles the company seems lost.

    For a company that has effectively controlled the market in computer operating systems for the past 25 years, the prospect of ceding the market to Google is a nightmare.

    In developed markets, people routinely use desktop computers to access the Internet. But in developing countries, where PC penetration is low, billions of people will connect to the Internet for the first time using their mobile phones. By the end of this decade, almost everyone on the planet will be online — and most will be connecting via mobile devices of some form or description.

    If Android is the software of choice for these devices, Google will have triumphed over its old adversary.

    Even if Microsoft gets WinMo 7 right, it is probably going to have to rethink the way it does business: it may be forced to emulate Google and give away its operating system to handset manufacturers. For a company that makes its money selling software, that might seem heretical.

    Google gives Android away hoping to monetise its online services, such as search and e-mail, through advertising.

    The problem with this model for Microsoft is that its online applications are poorly developed compared with Google’s. Its Windows Live Mail service, for instance, is a poor quality product compared to Google’s Gmail.

    When Ballmer takes to the stage again in Spain next month, he’ll have to pull a rabbit out of his hat if he’s to stop another round of guffawing from impolite tech journalists.

    • McLeod is editor of TechCentral; this column is also published in the Financial Mail
    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
    Apple Duncan McLeod Google Microsoft Steve Ballmer Windows Mobile
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleTwo injured in Telkom blast in Yeoville – update 1
    Next Article Jobs unleashes the Apple iPad – pictures and video

    Related Posts

    iPhone 14 launch date targeted for 7 September

    18 August 2022

    Google buys into African e-logistics firm Lori Systems

    17 August 2022

    Acrobat Sign and Microsoft accelerate digital transformation

    17 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Entelek, A2pay to roll out 2 500 free Wi-Fi sites in South Africa

    18 August 2022

    Companies are drowning in data – but solutions are at hand

    18 August 2022

    Top cybersecurity challenge is inadequate identification of key risks

    17 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.