Microsoft picks on Android and Symbian; Windows Mobile not going the open source way
If, for any reason, you’re thinking that Microsoft might someday offer Windows Mobile licenses for free, just forget about it. WinMo will still be “sold” and not “offered” many years from now. Or at least that’s what Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer says.
Despite the arrival of Google’s Android open source platform and the upcoming open source Symbian OS, prepared by Nokia, Microsoft still considers it has to charge users for using Windows Mobile.
Steve Ballmer declared that Microsoft believes in the value of its products, that’s why the company will continue with the licensing fees for WM. As reported by Strategy Analytics, Microsoft cashes in between $8 to $15 for every Windows Mobile handset sold, so it’s obvious that the software giant makes a lot of money from its mobile business.
This is also a good reason for Microsoft not to build its own mobile device. As long as it makes money from the software part only, there’s no need to get involved into hardware manufacturing, right? Right, and that’s what Mr. Ballmer thinks too, since he said they (i.e. Microsoft) are not going to build any phone of their own.
Interestingly, Steve Ballmer also said that he doesn’t understand the reasons behind Google’s and Nokia’s wishes to go open source, and there might be strings attached to their mobile platforms. Thus, he thinks mobile carriers, as well as mobile users, are skeptical when it comes to the two open source platforms.
Well, I’d like to remind Mr. Ballmer that, for example, using the big G search engine is totally free, yet Google is one of the richest companies established in the last decade. So, yeah, there are lots of other ways to make money than simply selling stuff, and I’m sure Google and Nokia are well aware of them.
Source: Reuters
Enjoyed the story? Get the news and updates as we publish them. For instant updates as we press the "Publish" button, click here to follow us on Twitter . To subscribe to RSS News Feed click here , for daily e-mail updates click here .If you liked the post, you might find these interesting too:
- Windows Mobile 7’s Internet Explorer could use open-source WebKit
- Steve Ballmer: Windows Mobile 7 will come in 2010
- Nokia offers to acquire Symbian for open source, teams up with other mobile industry giants for Symbian Foundation
- Steve Ballmer: Windows Mobile 6.5 will come next year
- Windows Mobile 7 already in testing, LG says it’s coming this year
-
GSCP
« Sony Ericsson Rika in red, new leaked images confirm the Walkman phoneSamsung u430 outed by Verizon »