“Apple will almost certainly wipe up Microsoft in smart phone operating system market share during third quarter [2008],” Joe Wilcox reports for eWeek’s Microsoft Watch. “That’s my conclusion after further reviewing Gartner’s smart phone OS shipment numbers for first and second quarters.”
“By even the most conservative of analyst estimates about third-quarter iPhone shipments, Apple’s OS almost certainly will push aside Windows Mobile in smart phone operating system market share. The smart phone is Windows Mobile’s core market,” Wilcox reports.
“Financial analyst estimates range anywhere from 4.4 million to 6 million iPhones shipped in third quarter. Either number would likely push Microsoft down a spot behind Apple,” Wilcox reports.
“The reversal of fortune would be perhaps a psychological blow to some Microsoft Windows Mobile product managers and one big smiley face for Apple’s iPhone team. More importantly, it’s news Apple could seize for competitive marketing purposes. Then there will be the jibes from the Apple fanboy bloggers,” Wilcox reports.
MacDailyNews Take: No need to come up with any jibes when Microsoft’s witless CEO constantly provides gems like this: “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.” – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, April 30, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone (January 17, 2007):
MacDailyNews Note: By the way, for the sake of factual information, according to the most recent numbers from NPD, July 2008, Apple iPod has 73.4%, “Other” has 15.4%, SanDisk has 8.6%, and Microsoft Zune has 2.6%.
MacDailyNews Take: Here’s another Microsoft doofus remarking about Apple’s iPhone: “We are not at all worried. We think we’ve got the one mobile platform you’ll use for the rest of your life… They are not going to catch up.”” – Scott Rockfeld, group product manager at Microsoft’s mobile communications business, April 01, 2008
Wilcox continues, “Microsoft executives harp on about choice. That’s fine if businesses or consumers choose your product. The local supermarket offers lots of choice, but I can walk to the pricier convenience store. The point: Choice is good but it’s not a market differentiator. People need good choices, and Windows Mobile doesn’t feel like one of them right now.”
Full article, which includes a chart of Gartner’s worldwide smartphone OS shipments for Q1 and Q2 2008, here.