Microsoft smartphone may be in the works
A variety of rumors and reports indicate Microsoft could be working on its own smartphone. The most common theory is that it would be based around the company’s Zune media player.
There are, of course, many mobile devices which run on the Windows Mobile system, though traditionally these have been marketed more as handheld computers rather than feature-packed phones. As is its usual business model, Microsoft has yet to get into the hardware side of the smartphone market.
The main rumors floating about are based on three original source:
- The Inquirer insists Microsoft is to produce a phone powered by NVDIA’s Tegra chip, launched earlier this year.
- CNBC says an ongoing Microsoft project, codenamed Pink, will see the Zune music player built-up into a mobile phone using technology from Danger Inc, a phone producer which Microsoft recently purchased.
- Business site Marketwatch has a research note from investment analyst Peter Misek stating “There is a high likelihood that Microsoft is slated to enter the branded smart phone market in 2009 by unveiling its first device at the Mobile World Congress.” (That’s the same event where Google launched its Android smartphone operating system this year.)
For what it’s worth, Microsoft says it has no plans to make a mobile phone, but won’t comment on whether it could lend one of its brands to a manufacturer.
Microsoft no doubt sees a market dominated by some of its main rivals and wants to get a piece of the action. And there’s certainly no reason to think a firm of its size it can’t at least make some money from smartphones.
But going purely by instinct, I can’t see a Microsoft phone being an overwhelming success. As much as the iPhone is a good piece of equipment, much of its success is surely down to the existing market share and image of the iPod. And while the iPhone brings together the two most popular gadgets – an MP3 player and a cellphone – and adds internet access, it’s hard to imagine anyone who dreams of the day a Zune player can make phone calls.
There’s also the issue that, not matter how a Microsoft phone actually operates, most of the public will simply see it as a ‘Windows’ phone. And while most people get Windows for their computers almost without thinking, the brand has little selling power on mobile phones where the most common fears over non-Microsoft operating systems (“I won’t know how to use it”, “I won’t be able to open documents from other people”) are largely irrelevant.
Related Posts:
