Stuart Corner
Thursday, 15 May 2008 09:27
Opinion and Analysis
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Microsoft is expecting that 40 percent of smartphones sold in 2012 will be based on its Windows Mobile operating system. No doubt it won't be resting on its laurels if it gets there, but open source-based platforms, particularly LiMo, are making rapid headway.
Microsoft's claim was made by Eddie Wu, managing director of Microsoft ODM embedded devices, Asia in
an interview with Malaysia's DigiTimes. The report also quoted him as saying that Microsoft expected to ship 20 million Windows mobile platform products in fiscal 2008 and noting that there were currently some 140 different Windows Mobile based smartphones from 50 manufacturers on the market.
Taiwanese handset maker HTC was until recently the leading manufacturer of Window mobile based devices but US web site, Cellular News claims to have seen internal data from Microsoft showing that HTC has dropped to third place, behind Motorola and Samsung. It said the data showed Motorola leading by a small margin and showing that HTC had maintained its number one position in the Windows Mobile based PDA market with nearly half of that market, followed by Palm and then Samsung.
However, in April, market research firm ABI was forecasting that by 2013, nearly one out of every five mid-or high-end mobile devices would use a Linux operating system. ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw said: "Linux OS solutions will be far more cost-effective than incumbent solutions, even when silicon requirements are taken into account, given that a fuller application layer will be included in the standard package and that the burden of customisation falls mostly on the independent software vendor."
He added: "Linux, which has been much maligned by Symbian and Microsoft as a non-starter in the handset operating system market, is set to see strong growth as issues with framework fragmentation and silicon requirements are alleviated...The growing momentum behind the LiMo Foundation initiative, as well as the marketing boost that has been realized from the entry of Google's Android solution has been further enhanced by Nokia's support of the Maemo solution and its purchase of Trolltech."
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