Wednesday, August 29, 2012

MICROSOFT CORPORATION: THE SMARTPHONE CATASTROPHE

Microsoft tried to do to mobile phones what it did to PCs over the past couple of decades. It failed miserably. Firstly, it was a late mover. Secondly, it got the very products wrong and was forced to withdraw them. Does this pull-out imply the end of Steve Ballmer’s smartphone dreams? by Surbhi Chawla

Apart from being the best for the youth, Microsoft’s products were far from being even acceptable. For instance, the trend currently is of larger screens, that give better browsing experience – something which the Kin-duo lacked. Another reason for the failure was the ‘wrong’ choice of carrier. It was a self-inflicted blow. To maximise returns on a handset whose USP was social networking, Ballmer should have instead given the carrier contract to T-Mobile or Sprint, which have had previous experience handling cellphone users traffic on social networking sites. He didn’t and Microsoft was forced to withdraw a product with the shortest life span in its 36 year-old history. So what next for Microsoft? In this light, the news is good. Ballmer is doing what he should – bet big on the success of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 smartphone version. During the first week of July, manpower which previously was allocated for the Kin development team was reallocated to the Windows Phone 7 development group. It is expected that multiple handset makers will launch products based on the Phone 7 platform by the end of 2010. Even as the company plans to continue living the smartphone dream, many have started writing off this Microsoftian chapter. But there are believers too. Says Jeff Kagan, a New York-based telecom analyst, “Microsoft is still a very large and important company in certain segments. But its efforts to enter the wireless phone business have been troubled. I think if it can come up with the kind of OS that customers want, it could be very successful. Just look at how Apple and Google are succeeding. Microsoft can win over wireless users by understanding the basics.”

But Microsoft has to watch out for competition. Apple, Nokia and RIM have a number of impressive products lined-up. The future would see both Droid and Android devices challenging Ballmer’s success. Also, all OEMs that were earlier basking on the success of the Windows (majorly Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson) are now riding the Android wave. Microsoft should simply take advantage of the fact that these manufacturers are still game for a Microsoft Windows Phone 7. And there is the tablet category too with MSI, Asus, LG and HP having already showcased their Windows Phone 7-based tablet computers.

There was a time when Windows “dominated” the PC industry. But times have changed, and today, absolute supremacy is passe. It’s unlikely that Microsoft will dominate the mobile platform space they way it dominated the PC industry. But for now, Microsoft has a great chance with the Windows Phone 7, as Michael Gartenberg, Partner at New York-based Altimeter Group tells B&E, “Windows Phone 7 will allow Microsoft to become a strong mobile platform provider. And porting applications & services to other platforms will also make it the key provider for core functionality across multiple platforms and devices.”

The future will belong to non-PC converged devices, and much as this is a challenge to the PC-dominating Microsoft, it’s a golden chance for Ballmer to prove many critics wrong.


Posted by at 10:30 AM
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,