Microsoft to limit number of Windows Mobile handsets

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Mobile Industry & Technology Journalist - freelance

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Microsoft to limit number of Windows Mobile handsets

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 13 January, 2009

READ MORE: Handset | Microsoft | Windows Mobile

Microsoft has never achieved the presence to which it is accustomed in the mobile operating system market, and the debut of Android has put Windows Mobile under intense pressure. Delays in upgrading the Microsoft system have left it looking tired compared to its rivals, and several key partners have defocused or even defected - with Motorola apparently the latest. The shift of the business towards open source means that, without going that route itself, Microsoft has now lost all hope of major mobile OS market share, so it appears, instead, to be accentuating its role as a high end, predominantly enterprise focused system and trying to maintain that with clearer added value compared to the open platforms.

So The New York Times reports that Microsoft will make a major announcement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month - presumably going live with release 6.5 and possibly launching release 7 - but will also deliberately limit the number of handsets that run Windows Mobile in order to improve performance and integration. Whether this is Microsoft making a virtue out of necessity, as it sees its largest OEMs - Motorola, HTC, Palm and Samsung - all putting Linux at the top of their development agenda, it does reflect a new willingness to be flexible in optimizing its OS for individual smartphones. This was a trend kicked off by Sony Ericsson, which - initially in the face of Microsoft hostility - created a whole new user interface for its first Windows phone, the Xperia X1, without which the software giant would likely not have netted its valuable deal with the top five phonemaker.

Todd Peters, VP of marketing at the Windows Mobile division, told the NYT: "I'd rather have fewer devices and be more focused", and achieve better integration between handset and OS - a particular challenge for Microsoft, as it does not control both the hardware and the software as Apple, Palm or RIM (its main challengers in its enterprise heartland) do. He said the key now is to "pump more value" into the software license - as it goes up against freely licensed OSs - and that there are plans to introduce new touchscreen capabilities and other technologies, as well as new service offerings. Windows Mobile currently runs on about 140 products and 20m units were sold during the past year, with 11 breaking the million-unit barrier.