Microsoft to limit number of Windows Mobile devices on the way to announcing something major at MWC 2009

In an effort to keep up with the “fierce competition” in the mobile phone market, Microsoft is said to be working on retooling and beefing up the Windows Mobile operating system which runs on many popular devices such as the Samsung Omnia.

According to Todd Peters, the vice president of marketing for the Windows Mobile division, Microsoft is planning on making a major announcement at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year, which we’ll be in to cover, so expect updates on that front. Peters didn’t get specific with what’s going to happen at MWC in February, but he did make it clear that Microsoft is about to give it to the competition.

In an interview with the New York Times, Peters also revealed that Microsoft plans to become more competitive is by limiting the number of devices built with the Windows Mobile OS. No specific number of devices was mentioned, though it’s probably going to be a lot lower than the current number of Windows Mobile smartphones out in the market, which is at around 140.

Why Microsoft would want to do this is obvious: to maintain focus on development instead of bug fixes and keep its efforts from being diluted over too many devices. However, when you think about how Microsoft will still charge licensing fees to have Windows Mobile run on devices when there are other free alternatives (such as Google’s Android and soon, Symbian), one could infer that a number of others would quite voluntarily leave on their own, anyway.

In any case, Microsoft has definitely taken the right direction. I’ll sure be looking forward to that “major” announcement they’re planning February.

Via NYTimes

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Posted on 09 Jan 09 - Filed in Windows Mobile, Wireless - Comments - Written by David Gonzales

  • eidylon
    WinMo will never be truly competitive until competitive phones can be put into a price range similar to the iPhone.
    When the iPhone is selling for ~200, and any remotely-similar WinMo device sells for easy > 300-400, there's just no competition there. Sorry.
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