14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant has already lost the fight in the mobile phone area it seems, or at least this is what Mark Anderson, author of the Strategic News Service newsletter, states. According to him, Microsoft is only capable of winning in the gaming segment, with all other consumer areas being poised for failure when it comes to the leading company.
“2010 will be The year of Operating System Wars: Windows 7 flavors, Mac OS, Linux flavors, Symbian, Android, Chrome OS, Nokia Maemo 5. The winners, in order in unit sales: W7, Mac OS, Android. W7, ironically, by failure of imagination and by its PC-centric platform, actively clears space for others to take over the OS via mobile platforms,” is what Anderson stated, reports zdnet.
As one can easily see, his sayings are in a way in line with previous analyst previsions: the mobile operating system that should see the largest traction on the market is Google's Android platform. According to earlier estimations, the OS is expected to become the second leading platform on the market, following Symbian, which should be able to maintain its current leading position.
This is not the first time when Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system is said to be poised for failure in the future, that's for sure. As Cnet points out in a recent article, there are some voices suggesting already that the platform will die by 2011, or even earlier, unless, of course, Microsoft makes a move into this direction.
While the OS in itself is not something as bad as one might think, its main issue is clearly the user interface it delivers. The latest flavor of the platform, Windows Mobile 6.5, however, has showed that the Redmond company is working on improving this aspect, and there have been already numerous reports suggesting that the future flavors of Windows Mobile will be able to prove as competitive as needed.
The one thing that is sure here is that Microsoft indeed has to make Windows Mobile 7 a killer. Android is already a very appealing platform, and Nokia recently unveiled plans to revamp the user experience its Symbian OS can deliver. All that remains to be seen is what Microsoft will do in the smartphone area during the next year, especially since the market is poised for growth, and the competition will certainly increase.