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Mobile World Congress 2010
Microsoft Regains Relevance in Smartphones with Windows Phone 7
Event Summary
Feb. 15, 2010 -- Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series, a completely redesigned mobile OS distinguished by experience “hubs” and integrated content from Xbox LIVE (games) and Zune (music and video). Carrier partners include AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone. Manufacturer partners include Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Qualcomm. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010.
Analytical Summary
• Current Perspective: Positive on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series, because this was the radical change for which consumers have been waiting in order to reengage with Microsoft. Windows Phone 7 series is competitive across the board – for entertainment, enterprise use, and personal productivity. Social networking is built in, the PIM applications are well conceived, and there are tight ties to Microsoft’s other consumer assets such as Bing, Zune, and Xbox Live. Microsoft is exerting more control over hardware standards, which may make it more difficult for its licensees to stand out from one another, but it makes the platform overall much more compelling and gives developers a single target for which to shoot. After getting hands-on time with a prototype, our only reservations are around timing, multitasking, and developer engagement. Windows Phone 7 devices will not be hitting the market until late in the year; in the meantime, Windows Mobile 6.5 phones are basically dead in the water, and Microsoft’s competitors are sure to announce updates of their own.
• Vendor Importance: Very high to Microsoft, since it is a strategic imperative that Microsoft have a strong entry in the mobile device space, as mobile phones have become mobile computers and success in phones can be leveraged into the living room, the desktop (PC), and the cloud (Internet services). Windows Mobile 6.x was not competitive with mobile OS offerings from Apple, Google, or Palm, and it is getting beaten in the market by RIM. Microsoft long had all the assets it needed to compete, but the company could not get its left hand to talk to its right. That has changed.
• Market Impact: Very high on the smartphones market, because Microsoft is a credible competitor again, and this is a market where Microsoft intends to compete for decades to come.
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Current Perspective
Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses
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