Analyst: Windows Mobile is doomed!

Paul Nesbitt

Microsoft’s efforts in the smartphone market are doomed and the company should get out of the consumer market immediately.

That’s the verdict of US tech analyst, Mark Anderson, who runs the Strategic News Service website, and whose clients includes HP, Nokia and T-Mobile and Microsoft itself!

‘Except for gaming, it is “game over” for Microsoft in the consumer market,’ he told the New York Times. ‘It’s time to declare Microsoft a loser in phones. Just get out of Dodge.’

Anderson blames a fundamental lack of understanding of the consumer electronics market (gaming excepted) at Microsoft for his grim appraisal. ‘Phones are consumer items, and Microsoft doesn’t have consumer DNA,’ said Anderson.

Anderson’s predictions follow a report, the Smartphone Satisfaction Study, published last year by US consumer electronics industry consultants, CFI Group.

The report, based on surveys of more than 1,000 smartphone users, found that the iPhone had a commanding lead in consumer satisfaction (ranked 83 out of 100) while Windows Mobile phones scored lowest at 66.

And Windows Mobile 6.5 suffered from poor reviews when it was launched last October.

According to analysts, Microsoft faces a fundamental problem, that goes beyond the perceived quality of its current mobile OS. While Apple, RIM and even Palm are recognized as clear OS brands, Windows Mobile phones are branded as hardware. What worked in the PC industry does not seem to be working in smartphone market.

It’s a problem that Google also faces with its similar strategy of licensing its software to third party phone makers, and the search giant is preparing its own Google branded handset to address this.

‘Microsoft and Google have to create a product that is consistent enough so that buyers ask for it by name and stay loyal to it. What makes this problematic is the hardware vendors want buyers unique to them and only ask for Motorola, HTC or Samsung phones,’ said analyst Rob Enderle.

‘This civil war for customer control between Microsoft and Google and their hardware counterparts will only benefit Apple and RIM, which do not have this conflict. They know who owns their customers. They do,’ observed Enderle.

‘If Microsoft delays much longer on producing a decent mobile platform with software, services and partners, then it will be out of the game,’ warned Endpoint Technologies analyst, Roger Kay.