MacDailyNews Take: In response, the thinking world issued a collective yawn.
Virki continues, “‘It’s possible that Microsoft has accepted it is not going to succeed in the mobile OS race, particularly now that HTC and Samsung seem to be sneaking into the Android party,’ said Tero Kuittinen, analyst at MKM Partners.”
“Though Microsoft says its is committed to Windows Mobile, the Nokia deal is being read by many as a signal the company wants to limit its involvement,” Virki reports. “The arrangement also jeopardises sales of smaller handset makers like HTC who have focused on Windows phones.”
MacDailyNews Take: This is what happens when you make the sales guy the CEO.
Virki continues, “Microsoft has tried to conquer the mobile operating system market for years, but despite heavy investments its success has been limited… In the last two years the success of RIM’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone has pushed it to No 4 in the market, and Android has started to make headway. ‘The Nokia deal could marginalize Windows as a mobile operating system even further,’ said Kuittinen.”
Virki reports, “All manufacturers in total sold just 3.8 million Windows phones in April-June quarter, according to research firm Gartner, giving Windows a 9 percent market share among smartphones.”
MacDailyNews Note: In the same quarter, Apple sold 5.4 million iPhone units which was a 509% (not a typo) increase in shipment growth year-over-year.
Direct link to video via YouTube here.
Virki continues, “‘I see this as a tacit admission from Microsoft that WinMo hasn’t made the grade. I am becoming more concerned about its future and I worry that Windows Mobile 7 could even be the last throw of the dice,’ Gartner analyst Nick Jones wrote in a blog. ‘Imagine you’re (Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer, and in two years time WinMo was still 4th in smartphone market share. How much longer would you keep throwing money at it?'”
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine you’re Steve Ballmer? Shudder. Oh, alright: “How much longer would I keep throwing money at it? Uh, duh… F-f-forever? Like the super innovative and spectacularly-performing Zune franchise which has something like 99% share of geek joke gift market? No, I mean, yes, I don’t really know, I’m just winging this whole thing, if you haven’t noticed. Did I tell you that I run every morning? Oh, yeah: WINDOWS MOBILE! WINDOWS MOBILE! WINDOWS MOBILE! I LOVE THIS COMPANY!!!”
Virki continues, “Strategy Analytics estimates Microsoft charges between $7 and $15 per phone from handset vendors — meaning Windows Mobile created at best revenues of $57 million in the last quarter from $13.1 billion for the group”
Full article here.
I never tire of watching that Clip. Pure gold.
Won’t appeal to business customers, the biggest blunder ever!!
Posted from the crapper in work, using MDN.app on my iPhone
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If a phone is running Windows Mobile, can you really call it a Smartphone?
Tero Kuittinen … the consummate Apple iPhone hater.
This gas bag has written tens of iPhone-bashing articles, starting from even before it was launched, touting how it would never make it in this world.
The single stupidest commenter on Apple, iPhone and the mobile world I have ever read.
MDN
Are you suggesting that it tanked?
And yet Balmer is flushed with joy….
Frankly, I am amazed that how poorly Microsoft is floundering in a market for which the company had a huge time lead over Apple, Google and others to secure a first-mover advantage. We are talking about a mammoth company with virtually endless resources to compete.
I can only conclude that Microsoft has encountered severe technical difficulties creating an a smart operating system for smartphones, much less to spec a hardware standard that would allow Microsoft to have a hardware platform on which to build an OS. My hunch is that Windows is so bloated that they are having a hard time winnowing it down to work correctly with a phone.
But perhaps more important, leadership in this group appears to be in complete disarray. Where is their strategy? There isn’t any.
Not that I mind, but it is still amazing that a company with the size and combativeness that Microsoft is known for is so hopelessly far behind in such a rapidly growing marketplace. It points to how disruptive the iPhone is with this market, and how flat-footed Microsoft of all companies is in response. Yet, you will see the PC lap dog media fawning over any Microsoft news release, and clueless pundits will say (again) that Apple is doomed. Right. Without a clear strategy and visionary management, Microsoft is falling behind. The company is quickly becoming the General Motors of the computing world.
I’ve been watching that clip ever since it came out, two and a half years ago, and I must say, Balmer had no other way to respond but the way he did. He said:
“Five hundred dollars, fully subsidised!? With a Plan??! That is the most expensive cellphone by far, and it doesn’t appeal to business, since it doesn’t have a keyboard and it makes it not a good e-mail machine! (short pause) No, it may sell very well or not, you know, no… we have our strategy…” (etc).
In the next question, the reporter continued to grill him about Zune, iPod and iPhone, and he continued to defend his position in a rather reasonable way:
“Right now, we’re selling millions and millions of phones a year, they are selling zero phones. In six months, they’ll have the most expensive phone ever in the market place, and… you know… what’s the expression… let’s see, you know, let’s see how the competition goes. In the case of music and entertainment players, Apple obviously has the preeminent position…”
Let’s keep in mind; he is the CEO of the biggest software company on the planet, with a monopoly position in one of the most significant markets in the tech field. From the position of power and strength, he obviously must vigorously defend his product strategy. Unlike Palm’s senior people (or venture capitalists), Balmer was quite respectful of Apple’s position with the iPod, and non-committal with the outlook of iPhone (at the time, still only vapourware, other than a single controlled demo by Jobs, and almost six months away from actual launch).
We all love to make fun of Balmer’s predictions or statements, but in this one, he was quite measured and reasonable, leaving enough room to retreat without sounding like an idiot (that he actually is). There are definitely clips much more embarrassing than this one.
Over at RDM, Dan is predicting MS will use WinMo 7 to start making its own Windows Phones (the “pink” program) next year, and basically give up on trying to make a profit selling WinMo to other OEM’s. samsung and HTC see this coming, so they are switching to Android and Symbian. Makes sense.
Predrag,
Try this one on for size:
Microsoft’s Ballmer: ‘No chance Apple iPhone is going to get any significant market share’ – April 30, 2007
@ mike_in_helsinki,
But Mike, he sure has a good handle on Windows Mobile.
That’s it! Windows Mobowl.
Journo,
That’s what I’m talking about, although I can’t find the actual clip with that statement.
Judging by the way things look today, it is very likely that Windows Mobile will slip to No. 5, behind Android, within a year or so. If Palm somehow survives with their Pre (without any patent infringement litigation against it), makes their devices a bit more appealing and on more carriers (US and foreign) in addition to Sprint, it just may slip past Win Mobile, pushing WinMo down to No. 6 spot. As much as I’m indifferent about Pre, I’d love to see WinMob drop below it. Knowing Balmer, he will refuse to pull the plug, preferring instead to hemorrhage cash on WinMob division for years to come.
Wouldn’t it be lovely?
We all love to make fun of Balmer’s predictions or statements, but in this one, he was quite measured and reasonable[…]
“Right now, we’re selling millions and millions of phones a year,”
Microsoft’s partners are selling more than a million phones per year. We’ll give him this one.
“they are selling zero phones.”
Selling zero of a product not yet released. Meaningless.
“In six months, they’ll have the most expensive phone ever in the market place,”
Incorrect. There have been more expensive phones.
“and… you know… what’s the expression… let’s see, you know, let’s see how the competition goes.”
O.K. Let’s see.
“All manufacturers in total sold just 3.8 million Windows phones in April-June quarter,”
“In the same quarter, Apple sold 5.4 million iPhone units”
Of four statements in Ballmer’s measured and reasonable response, one is acceptable, one is meaningless, one is incorrect, and one is a prediction he comes out on the losing side of. 1 out of 4. Yes, an above average score for Ballmer.
I hereby terminate Steven Ballmer’s contract. Reason: utterly incompetent moron.
Honestly – if you see your worst rival building a great stack of cool OSs then firstly you don’t give up and secondly you make them better.
Which is what he’s done.
Got a good laugh from the MDN take, and a gut buster from the ‘I run every morning’ link. Ballmer is downright sad.
This guy sounds like another one of MAC’s astroturfers. It never ceases to amaze me how you MAC fangirls continue to defend a phone without a removable battery, buttons or memory card slot. IT specialists and consumers alike see through your attempts to build up your toy I-Phone by taking Windows Mobile down. It won’t work.
The future couldn’t be brighter for Windows Mobile and its millions of enthusiastic users. Microsoft’s vision for mobile computing will be realized with this bold and strategic partnership with innovative Nokia. Word, Excel and Powerpoint on a phone! Suck it, MAC dorks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
I have two comments on this “story.”
1. It will be interesting to see if Nokia goes the same way as the last company to embrace Microsoft’s solution. (I think the name of the company was something like hand or was it Palm.)
2. r.e., Pink: The problem with choosing someone else’s solution and building on it is that you are bound to go whatever way they go. If they decide to go in a direction that does not support your goals, you are “out of luck.” Apple had that happen to them with the PowerPC consortium, of which they were a member, and Microsoft, who pulled application software support from Apple several times. Hopefully Nokia is smart enough (or at least careful enough) not to put all of their eggs in the Microsoft basket.
Microsoft seems to have several of these “hobby” projects and it’s nice when you have the money, but can it last forever?
‘We’re driving our innovation hard.” – Steve Ballmer
Always provides a chuckle.
Developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers …………….
Say it with me now… “May Steve Ballmer continue running Microsoft for as long as it takes”.
Wow, just wow!
MS got $57M in sales from WinMo last quarter, while Apple got over $3B in iPhone sales, or about 50x more than MS.
Too bad there isn’t some kind of award for being captain of the most sinking ships.
(glass raised)
“May Steve Ballmer continue running Microsoft for as long as it takes.”
But hurry please.
“I can only conclude that Microsoft has encountered severe technical difficulties creating an a smart operating system for smartphones”
hang on…
“I can only conclude that Microsoft has encountered severe technical difficulties creating an operating system”
fixed that for ya.
The only thing Project Pink reminds me off is when I go poopee with diareah issues. That’s about as close as Microsoft can get with their pinkhole!
The Zune is an expensive sideshow.
WinMobile is Balmer’s epic fail. It guarantees that in the future, MS won’t be MS.
Actually from a management perspective, one can argue that things like The Zune ARE the problem… MS’ failure to identify which products really matter. Somehow I think Bill Gates would have done whatever it took to be successful in mobile OS.
But then, we didn’t really want them to continue to be MS, did we? SJ was right to smile when he thought about a “sales guy” being in charge.
My friend who works at MS accused me of accusing MS of being the “diet coke of evil.” Yep. After all, who fears them any more?