WinMo Wrap: WM Drops to Third; HD2 to T-Mobile; LG eXpo Arrives
The week marches on and today being Saturday means it is time to recap the recent happenings in the world of Windows Mobile. Every week we see new sales numbers that spell trouble for the Windows Mobile team. This week U. S. numbers were published that show WinMo has dropped to third on the smartphone list. The iPhone passed WinMo in sales for the first time, and the BlackBerry maintained its strong position in the U. S. Microsoft cannot get the next version, WM 7, released fast enough. The question of the day is will the WinMo position be recoverable by the end of next year, when WM 7 is due for release.
Evidence has emerged that the HTC HD2, due for release in the U. S. next year, could be headed to T-Mobile. I have been evaluating the HD2 for a few weeks and am still impressed with the good job that HTC has done on the HD2. The Snapdragon processor is definitely the wave of the future for smartphones, as performance is stellar.
The LG eXpo has arrived on the AT&T network for $200, just in time for the holidays. The phone runs WM 6.5 and has a sliding QWERTY keyboard for text entry. The eXpo has the fast Snapdragon processor and a unique smartphone feature — a fingerprint sensor for security.
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The comScore statistics look at installed user base. The iPhone installed user base is now bigger than the Windows Mobile installed user base, despite WinMo being on the market for many years longer.
iPhone also recently surpassed Windows Mobile in enterprise use, according to InformationWeek statistics, pushing Windows Mobile to 3rd place among business users. This must have been the biggest blow to the Windows Mobile camp, which used to claim business sales as its own niche. Now that has dissipated.
iPhone handset sales have surpassed Windows Mobile for more than a year, and iPhone outsells WinMo more than 2:1. With Windows Mobile’s rapidly declining market share, WinMo fans must look at the situation realistically, and question whether the platform has any chance of survival.
The last major handset OEM concentrating on Windows Mobile is LG. It’s just my guess, but I wonder whether Microsoft must be paying LG to continue making Windows Mobile handsets. If that’s the case, it does not make a viable business model to continue into the future.
No doubt the iPhone has been a HUGE disruptive force in the Enterprise. Look for deeper penetration in 2010. As for WinMo, i think windows on a phone is just wrong on so many levels. I expect to see FREE google android phones appear next year…another game changer (ala iphone).
MS has been sitting on it’s laurels too long with Windows Mobile 7. They are a big organization, but if they can develop an interface such as the ZuneHD from scratch in the time they did, they should have released WinMo7 in 2009. I prefer WinMo for the sake of functionality and compatibility with files I use on my notebook. I would not even use an Android, Apple or Blackberry device if it was handed to me for free because of the limitations I would run into.
Microsoft should entertain the possibility of putting the WinMo and Zune development teams together in the future – a “ZuneHD phone” touting a 4 inch OLED at 800×480 would definitely be a hit consumer gadget, not to mention give the iPhone a serious run for it’s money.
For a detailed review of the ZuneHD from an audiophile perspective, jump over to my blog!
There are rumours on XDA Developers from informed sources that HTC will be releasing the first WinMo7 phones around the middle of next year rather than the end. According to the rumours they have an exclusive contract with Microsoft to supply the first WinMo7 phone.
Obviously, this is just speculation until something official comes out but I’d expect to hear a lot more about WinMo7 in February.
i want the lg expo on tmobile please.every phone i like is not on tmobile .i would like to by this phone please on tmobile
i want it on tmobile