14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft does not plan to push the newly unveiled Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system outside the smartphone area, the company's CEO Steve Ballmer stated during a press conference in Singapore today. The platform has been intended to work on mobile phones, and this is the segment where we should see it in action, it seems.
“We're focused on putting Windows Phone 7 in phones, no plans for tablets,” is what Ballmer said, according to WMExperts. While there are no details available on what Microsoft plans on doing in the tablets segment following the scrapping of Courier and reports on a rather uncertain future for HP's Slate device, it does come as a surprise that Windows Phone 7 won't land on tablets, especially since it would support the high-screen resolutions required in this area.
“Every Windows phone, every Kin, is Microsoft branded. It's not Microsoft produced, it's not priced by Microsoft, the Kin is actually manufactured, produced by Sharp. But it's advertised by Microsoft, it's branded by Microsoft. Will we go further than that? No plans at this time,” Microsoft's CEO continued, a recent article on Channel News Asia reads. According to Ballmer, Microsoft's existing strategies for the handset market should be enough for the time being.
However, it should be noted that the company is facing increasing competition on the market from platforms like Google's Android or Apple's iPhone. The first tablets powered by Android already emerged on the market, such as Dell's Streak, while Apple also came forth with its own tablet, the iPad, leaving Microsoft a little behind in the area.
On the other hand, Microsoft says that it has no plans for Windows Phone 7-based tablets at the moment, which does not exclude a future release of a device. There are chances that one of its partners will consider the platform suitable for a tablet device, yet we should wait and see how Windows Phone 7 performs on the market when launched on mobile phones to see whether a tablet might prove a good idea or not.